


Take my hand, wreck my plans

by Flareon37



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Slow Burn, Thirst Trapping, fluffy jeongmi, jeongmi, lots of gay panicking moments. lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29063103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flareon37/pseuds/Flareon37
Summary: Jeongyeon is poor but she's smart, hardworking and very responsible.   She's a dreamer too.Mina is rich, can have anything in the world if she wants to.   But she often feels misunderstood and lonely.Both are ok dealing and surviving their own shits in their lives. Until one drunk confession flips their world upside down.aka a JeongMi "thirst trapping" AU
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Minatozaki Sana, Im Nayeon/Myoui Mina, Myoui Mina/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 219
Kudos: 409





	1. Drunken confessions

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda wrote this on a whim and decided to publish anyways. so apologies in advance for the glaring mistakes.

*****

“One large iced caramel macchiato for Momo for takeaway!”

Jeongyeon calls out in her professional bubbly tone and a pretty girl in white loose crop top and denim skinny jeans walks towards the receiver counter to claim the order.

_Nice hair -_ The barista internally thinks while she admires the customer’s simple yet stylish black bobcut hair. She wonders if the customer is also a college student in their university, it’s the first time Jeongyeon has seen her in their café. 

_She looks more like a model to be honest-_ Jeongyeon continues on her internal musings.

This is one of the perks of working in a cozy coffee shop near a university- you get to meet pretty girls. And they get to smile back at you too when you give them your order - that is if they’re in the mood to do so- which Jeongyeon is usually lucky enough to experience.

“Iced caramel macchiato for Momo?” 

Jeongyeon repeats the order and the girl just gives her the receipt. After verifying it, she gently pushes the tray with the takeaway cup towards the customer and flashes her trademark _employee-of-the-week_ smile, 

“Enjoy your coffee, ma’am.”

“I will gorgeous.” The customer smirks and winks at her.

Oh yeah- and sometimes she even gets a wink from them as a bonus. Though Jeongyeon didn’t wink back - she never does, because it’s unprofessional, and she might get fired. And Jeongyeon really needs this job.

In fact, Jeongyeon needs every part-time job she currently has.

After another satisfied customer gets to smile at her, Jeongyeon glances at her wristwatch and her body automatically switches into a calmed yet hurried state, when she takes off her apron, walks closer to the counter and taps the person currently keying the register.

“Dub, you alright in here? I have an exam in 15 minutes. I need to run.”

“Yup. Peak hours’ past anyway. Go run now, unnie!”

And run she does, more on like a frantic sprint actually. 

Despite the coffee shop just being one block away from their university main entrance, Jeongyeon runs in the fastest speed her long legs can achieve because her college building is still eight blocks and three corner turns away from their main gate- _perks_ of studying in one of the largest universities in Seoul, she supposes. 

But Jeongyeon’s not complaining- at least she still gets to go to college.

Still a block and a left corner turn away from her building, Jeongyeon did the mistake of looking at her watch while still racing on a lightning speed, and so the next thing she knew is her books are already scattered on the floor while her butt is splattered in such an embarrassing position on the pavement university road.

“Oh I’m sorry, are you alright?”

A soft concerned voice permeates through the air and perhaps Jeongyeon’s panic sizzles down for a bit, before she looks at her watch again and the panic quickly resumes in waves– _4 minutes. Shit._

It’s already nearing the end of the semester and Jeongyeon needs to ace this last exam so she gets to be exempted in the finals again. She needs to be exempted to maintain her scholarship. She can’t afford to lose it next semester.

So Jeongyeon hurriedly reaches out for her fallen books, and with the help of the girl she bumped onto, she has managed to gather her things quickly, stands up and fixes herself.

“I’m really sorry. I wasn’t looking ahead.. my bad. Are you ok?” She hears the girl speaks again.

“It’s alright, miss. I wasn’t looking as w- Shit, sorry, I really need to run.”

And Jeongyeon resumes her running without even sparing the apologetic girl a proper look. Because she only has more than 3 minutes left before their professor closes the examination room’s door, and her hopes of being a scholar again next semester will be completely thrown out of the window.

It sucks. Because the sweet whiff of the student’s shiny raven hair is exquisitely calming for Jeongyeon, and she assumes that the girl must be pretty - if based only from her voice and the blurry image of her face that Jeongyeon can barely make up after their disastrous twenty-second _bumpy_ encounter.

It sucks because Jeongyeon likes admiring pretty girls. She likes looking at pretty things. Likes admiring all of God’s beautiful creations from afar. 

She likes admiring pretty girls but she doesn’t have time to be with them. 

Too complicated. Too stressful. Too time-consuming.

And Jeongyeon is already stressed and busy enough with her own life to deal with pretty girls’ complications and all the other stuff and packages that comes with it.

She has concrete and pretty detailed plans laid out for her and her family’s future right now. She doesn’t need any distractions. 

Admiring pretty girls is just enough for Jeongyeon. Always has been since her last _pretty-girl-complications_ have turned into a major messy wreck.

Suffice to say Jeongyeon has beaten the clock and has managed to settle in her examination seat while the room’s door is being closed just few rows behind her - albeit with sweats dripping on her temple, and a heavy panting on her chest.

She aced the exam of course. She’d punch herself if she didn’t – after all she studied for it every night, her scholarship is on the line anyway.

*****

The lone bell hanging by the door chimes softly and for a moment, it seems like the few customers inside the coffee shop including the bubbly kind fair-skinned employee standing behind the register, feel like they’re inside a movie premiere witnessing the main actress gracefully enters the scene.

Her elegant aura and gracious strides make every person in the shop watch her with careful awe, until she’s greeted by another pretty girl in bobcut hair and hugs her- then some hopeful girls and boys alike inside the café sighs, and the bubbly employee just shrugs her shoulders and nods in understanding– _of course, a pretty girl like her must already be taken._

“You’re fashionably late again.” Momo expresses with a huff while she takes her seat and go back to sipping her coffee. 

“I kinda bump into someone, and besides I still searched for this place.” Mina replies while browsing the menu, “Do you know what’s their specialty in here?”

“I don’t know princess, it’s both of our first time in this café. Though their caramel macchiato tastes nice.” Momo leans closer, “But I guess their hot barista tastes even nicer.”

Mina snickers at her friend’s playfulness, yet she still spares the counter a subtle look to check what Momo is blabbering about- 

“She’s cute.” She replies quickly, not really sounding interested, as her focus shifts on the menu again.

“No not that one. The one who gave me my order. But I’m guessing she’s just a part-timer here. I saw her running earlier with her backpack. I wonder which college she’s from..” 

Momo raises her brow coyly and Mina just shakes her head at her friend.

The younger resumes reading the menu again,

“So what’s up, Momoring? Why’d you summon me here?”

“I have another stint for us, the pay is good this time. Like _real_ good. You’re saving for an upgrade to your gaming computer right?” 

That catches Mina’s focus, and she completely drops the menu on the table to give her undivided attention to Momo.

Momo smirks at her friend, “You know I still don’t understand you, princess. Your family has all the money in the world and yet you still waste your time joining me in these stints. But I’m not complaining though, I get to have free food when I’m with you.”

Mina chuckles, “It’s not a waste of my time. Modeling is fun. Besides it’s fulfilling to buy stuff with my own hard-earned money. Something my brother refuses to experience.” She scoffs thinking of her annoying spoiled brat brother.

“Are you sure it’s not because of Nayeon?”

Momo’s blunt comment has caught Mina off guard so she just clears her throat, unsure of how to react properly.

“You don’t need to tell me anything, princess. You’re already obvious. And that is why I’m excited to share you this stint as well. You owe me free buffet for this favor.”

“What favor?” Mina pretends that her curiosity is not heightened by the playful smirk on Momo’s face.

So Momo decides to stall, teasing her friend more, and Mina gets impatient although she doesn’t show it outside.

When Mina’s brow unknowingly shoots into a glaring curve, the older girl finally spills the detail,

“Nayeon is also the photographer for this one.”

Mina clears her throat and acts like she’s not extremely delighted after hearing it. She lifts the menu from the table, pretending to browse the list again. 

“Oh really. That’s great, I like working with her. She’s a very professional photographer. She knows our best angles very well.”

Momo stirs her almost empty coffee while smirking at her obviously excited friend,

“Uh huh. She knows your angles alright.”

Momo gets her phone and opens her instagram, 

“I still can’t believe you two aren’t dating yet. You’ve been flirting with each other publicly in ig, it’s borderline cringey already.”

“What flirting? I wasn’t flirting.” Mina feigns ignorance. So Momo shoves her phone to Mina showing one of the younger’s recent posts in her public instagram account.

“You don’t call this flirting?” Momo then scrolls to the comment section and reads Nayeon’s comment on Mina’s recent post- 

_Girlfriend material._

Momo further checks all the other recent updates of Mina where Nayeon likes the picture, and proceeds on reading the photographer’s comments-

_Damn, hot girl._

_As expected of our Shoulder of the Year_

_Life is unfair. God really has favourites._

_Hi Miss, are you my future?_

_If I have a shoulder line like that I’d flaunt it every day._

“and so on and so forth.” Momo retracts her phone. 

“You’re basically thirst trapping her online. You post pictures of you flaunting your shoulders and whatnots because you know it’s one of her weaknesses. You post a sexy picture of you and then wait for Nayeon to like it and comment on it. Yes or Yes?”

“No and No. I am not thirst trapping her ok?” Mina shyly evades Momo’s knowing stare.

“Yes you are, princess. You’re very easy to read. And you fall for her flirty compliments instantly. You also flirt with her in DMs for all I know.”

“I don’t like her like that.. and no, we’re not flirting in DMs. We’re just getting to know each other..”

Momo rolls her eyes, “and I’m the straightest person in the planet. Come on, Mina, woman up. If you two are so fond of using ig as your flirting platform, why don’t you just try confessing to her in there?” 

The older then wiggles her eyebrows and starts stalking Nayeon’s public ig account this time,

“Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s into you too. It’s already obv- ” Momo abruptly stops talking and quickly puts her phone down.

Mina notices the change in Momo’s playful mood- “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Momo tries to hide her phone from the table but Mina is quick to snatch it.

The sudden shift in Mina’s previously excited state is glaring when she looks at Momo’s phone screen. Her mouth opens agape for a second, before she replies in the most unaffected tone her already aching heart can muster.

“I told you she’s not interested in me.”

“..looks like she’s into taller girls.” Mina blandly adds when she gives the phone back to Momo. 

Momo tries to console her friend, 

“It doesn’t look like she’s dating Tzuyu though..”

Tzuyu is another student in their university whom Mina and Momo met during one of their part-time modeling stints. The younger girl is nice, Mina admits. 

But after seeing Nayeon’s recent ig update where the photographer posted a selca, a very suspiciously clingy selca with the younger girl - Mina can’t help but feel jealous of Tzuyu.

Mina glares at her friend and replies sarcastically,

“We’re not dating Momo, would you take a picture of me with that.. _pose_?”

Mina now feels irritated. Nayeon has been flirting with her consistently for the past months, and then she’ll suddenly see this suspicious update from her with another girl. 

Momo looks at the update again and sighs- Nayeon’s arm is wrapped around Tzuyu’s neck while she kisses the younger girl’s cheek, dangerously close to the corner of Tzuyu’s lips.

 _It doesn’t look like they’re just friends, alright-_ Momo thinks but she didn’t say it out loud. Instead, she opted for the funny route, hoping that her friend’s mood would lighten up a bit.

“Maybe. If you treat me jokbal for a month then I’ll kiss your cheek too.”

*****

It’s been three weeks since Mina has seen Nayeon’s selca with Tzuyu. Since then she found out the two aren’t really officially dating, thanks to Momo’s unlimited source of connections. 

It has given Mina a tiny hope. To be honest, she actually doesn’t know what she even is hoping for. It’s not like she’s making a move for an actual hope to fully ignite and spark wildly.

Mina is too much of a coward for that. So despite her better judgment, after knowing that Nayeon is still single, Mina resorted to her old passive aggressive way of getting Nayeon’s attention- posting modeling pictures of her.

It drives her nuts. Because Nayeon is still taking the bait and is still blatantly flirting with her online- both publicly and in DMs. And Mina doesn’t know what to think anymore because she also sees Nayeon publicly flirting in Tzuyu’s account.

She hates it. She hates that she’s feeling like this. She hates that she likes Nayeon so much.

She hates that she likes it when Nayeon notices her and compliments her.

She hates that she gets competitive and just wants Nayeon’s attention all to herself. She can’t help it.

One night, while Mina is resting in her luxurious apartment, just browsing the raw pictures she received from their recent modeling stint in her laptop, a notification pops out on her phone – it’s from Nayeon’s ig account _(of course Mina has her notifs turned on for Nayeon’s public ig.)_

Mina squints, it’s another picture of Nayeon and Tzuyu. But it’s nothing special, it just looks like a normal selca. 

But then she accidentally clicks Tzuyu’s public account and she sees Nayeon commenting on the younger girl’s recent ig post. It’s the usual flirtatious comments from the photographer so Mina feels that competitive spirit again.

After all, they aren’t official yet right? So Mina is not trying to wreck a relationship or anything. She’s just trying to flirt with a girl that she likes.

She smirks when she glances back at the new modeling pictures on her laptop – she sure will have Nayeon’s attention when she posts one of these pictures. Especially now that her hair is blonde. Mina never realizes that blonde hair actually suits her.

After thirty minutes since Mina has posted one of her pictures, Nayeon still hasn’t commented on it yet. The photographer just liked her recent update but still no trace of any comment from her- usually it only takes less than a minute for Nayeon to do it.

And Mina is sure that Nayeon is online too because she sees her replying to Tzuyu’s post just a minute ago.

_Why isn’t she commenting on mine? This is unusual._

Two hours have passed and still no signs of Nayeon’s comment in her recent update. It gets Mina irate and uncharacteristically impatient. And when she sees Nayeon commenting on Tzuyu’s new post again- it fires her up. And a hunch crawls up within her.

So Mina switches on her dummy account and checks up on Tzuyu’s private ig, and that’s where she finally sees it-

_“Date with my pretty girlfriend.”_

_Girlfriend._ A picture of Nayeon and Tzuyu and it is caption like that. 

The laughter that Mina emits is as dry and bitter as her heart is feeling right now.

God what a stupid coward she is, still allowing her heart to even hope, that she even had a chance.

She should have known better.

She feels like a fool to even assume that Nayeon likes her back. How could she even believe Nayeon’s messages on her.

_Fool._ What a fool. Mina feels utterly stupid and her heart starts to ache. 

Damn, she needs a drink. And drink she did.

In fact, Mina gets drunk while still staring into Tzuyu’s private update.

And suddenly Momo’s voice visits her already tipsy and clouded brain-

_“why don’t you just try confessing to her in there?”_

Mina is drunk and heartbroken. 

Mina is drunk and she feels pathetic.

She feels pathetic and she’s not in her right mind.

She begins to type Nayeon’s ig account in the search bar- **_yeonyonnie95_**

Mina is drunk and heartbroken.

And Momo is not here to stop her.

A complete recipe for disaster.

*****

It’s already Jeongyeon’s second cup of coffee tonight. She needs to stay awake since she still has to finish her paper. It’s nearing finals week and requirements and exam schedules are piling up like crazy.

Jeongyeon only has limited time to review for her remaining exams and to complete all pending requirements for her other subjects, since she has to juggle both of her part-time works and studies.

Her body actually feels exhausted because she just came from a straight shift in the coffee shop- but she needs to finish this paper tonight. So Jeongyeon throws both of her arms up in the air and shouts- _Fighting!_

Two hours in and Jeongyeon’s brain feels like it’s already frying. She takes off her glasses, massages her nosebridge, and tries to relax her eyes. Ok, she needs a quick break.

So Jeongyeon reaches for her phone and checks her social media accounts to relax her brain for a bit. 

She sees a notification from her instagram and opens it- Dahyun has tagged her again in an ig story. It’s a happy picture of them in the coffee shop which Dahyun quickly snapped earlier during their closing time.

After typing her reply in Dahyun’s story through the message window, it’s only then that Jeongyeon notices that she has a new message request. 

_Odd._ This account is a private account of hers and only a few of her friends knows about it. But she opens the request nonetheless, there’s always a block option anyway.

**_Pretty._ **

**_Hot._ **

**_Damn!_ **

Are the initial reactions that wired on Jeongyeon’s brain right after she opens the request and sees the pictures.

But then she starts reading through the messages and a realization suddenly dawns on her - 

_What the hell?! This must be a scammer! How dare this pervert use this woman’s pictures._

Irritation and anger quickly flares up within her and she instantly feels protective of the girl who most probably is now a victim of stolen identity.

She looks at the username- **_mintypenguin_**

She checks the account- it’s private.

15 posts, 10 following, 0 followers, profile picture is a cute penguin art. 

The account is ultimately looking like a dummy account used for phishing and scamming girls.

She browses through the slur of messages again in the middle of provocative picture spamming:

_didnt u see my update?_

_u didnt comment yet_

_How bout this picture?_

_I’m blonde now_

_do u think it’s pretty?_

_why aren’t u replyin_

_I like u Nayy_

_Im so stupid_

_Do u want more photos?_

_I rlly like u_

_I like u a lot_

Yup. This account is definitely handled by a scammer. Jeongyeon feels both pitiful and protective of the girl now.

Yes the girl is pretty, insanely hot and pretty even- but no other girl deserves to be exploited by someone. For her pictures to be stolen and to be used to scam or phish people online, Jeongyeon is now furious. 

If she finds out that this pervert or whoever is behind this dummy account that he’s only using this girl’s pictures then Jeongyeon is really gonna find this guy and have him pay. 

So instead of blocking the account, Jeongyeon accepts the message request and replies-

_“You’re a scammer aren’t you? You pervert! You shouldn’t spread a girl’s pictures like that. You nasty coward pervert. I’m gonna find this lady and have her sue you. You’re disgusting!”_

Jeongyeon thinks it’s disrespectful to save the girl’s pictures so she instead took screenshots of the conversation as proof just in case. 

Suddenly, every cell in Jeongyeon’s tired body is awake now, and it’s not because of the coffee. 

She wants to start investigating who this girl is but then her gaze lands on her opened laptop.

Jeongyeon exhales loudly. She has to finish her paper first –

_Priorities._

*****

Mina wakes up late in the morning with a severe hangover. Fortunately for her, she only has afternoon classes today.

She gets her phone to check the time. When she unlocks the device, it only took five seconds before her expression shifts into a complete look of terror.

_Shit. Shit. Shit!_ She wants to vanish. Her headache even gets more intense.

Her stupid drunken self last night apparently has committed two life threatening mistakes-

First: she accidentally made a confession to Nayeon. Drunk confession. How immature.

Second: she actually sent the confession to the wrong account! And she even sent some of her provocative pictures too. To someone she didn’t even know! 

Mina sits frozen as her gaze is still fixed on her phone screen.

How stupid and reckless!

This isn’t really her. Nayeon makes her stupid. 

She tries to compose herself and checks the account: **_yeonyoo96_**

It’s a private account. It makes her panic even more. What if it’s a guy? What if it’s a pervert? 

_Shit. Shit. Shit._ How could she even make such a simple horrible stupid mistake?

But then again, she was drunk last night. She reminds herself to never ever get drunk alone again.

Mina investigates the account further- the profile picture is also a white dog. It also looks like a cute pomeranian dog with a white fur. No wonder her drunken self has mistaken it as Nayeon’s account. 

But now that she’s sober, clearly the dog doesn’t look like Kookeu at all. She notices that this dog has whiter fur than Kookeu. This dog is actually even cuter than Nayeon’s pet. 

It dawns on her again- she really did message a wrong account! Mina slaps her forehead.

_Stupid Mina, stupid._

She shifts to the message history again to check if there’s any more additional blunder that she has created last night- and it is then when she actually reads the account’s reply.

Mina pauses. Then she reads it again while slowly digesting the message.

_Hmm.._ _Thoughtful._ Mina’s panic slightly subsides.

This is not the reply that she was expecting. But then again, it’s understandable that the other person thought about her like that given her streaks of drunken messages last night.

Mina contemplated if she should block the account. But curiousity and slight paranoia is getting into her – she wants to check if this account is harmless, if this account did not save her pictures or anything.

So she tries to type a response-

_“I’m not a scammer, those are my own pictures. Can you confirm that you didn’t save my pictures, please? I accidentally sent it to your account last night. I’m supposed to send it to someone else’s account.”_

\-- Delete. Delete. Delete. Reply is too vulnerable. Too much information. What if _yeonyoo96_ is a guy and is actually the pervert- and her _thoughtful_ response is just a bait. Mina shouldn’t fall for his tricks.

So she tries to compose another version. She really needs to check that this person wouldn’t spread her pictures anywhere. 

Her squeaky clean family’s name is on the line, and a scandal about the great Myoui’s heiress daughter is not the greatest _achievement_ she wants to accomplish in college. 

Mina begins typing again..

**mintypenguin**

_How are you gonna find this girl then?_

Jeongyeon scoffs when she reads the message. Her morning classes just finished and she’s on her way now to start her shift at the café. 

_So you really admit you’re a scammer, huh.. -_ is the thought that’s running on Jeongyeon’s mind while she types her reply:

**yeonyoo96**

_I have my ways. I’ll find her and she’ll sue you. I have proofs!_

**mintypenguin**

_What proofs?_

**yeonyoo96**

_I screenshot your messages in case you block me. You’re gonna be in jail for this. You scammer!_

**mintypenguin**

_You saved my pictures??!! How could you.. I knew you’re a pervert!!!_

Jeongyeon’s mouth is opened wide in utter disbelief- _The audacity of this scammer._

**yeonyoo96**

_You really are such a skilled manipulator aren’t you? Twisting the situation. You’re the one who saved and stole this woman’s pictures, not me. You shouldn’t save her pictures and spread it online!_

_Pervert!_

Mina raises her brow -

**mintypenguin**

_Are you sure you didn’t save the pictures?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Why would I save them? It’s disrespectful. Unlike you, I know how to respect a woman._

A small smile unknowingly appears in Mina’s lips, but she knows she shouldn’t let her guard down. For all she knows, it’s just another manipulating tactic from this private account.

**mintypenguin**

_Would you really try to find her?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Yes. So start counting down your free days now, pervert!_

Mina slightly snickers at the reply- this _account_ is an interesting one huh.

**mintypenguin**

_Why do you wanna find her?_

**yeonyoo96**

_because you’re using her pictures without consent. She needs to be protected from predators like you._

Mina’s smile is now getting wider. She knows she shouldn’t feel touched by some random account’s words who could very much be a scammer but she can’t help it.

**mintypenguin**

_You’ll protect this woman?_

**yeonyoo96**

_I’m not Supergirl but I’ll help her put you in jail._

_Shit!_ Jeongyeon bites her lower lip after hitting the send button. It’s too late now- she hopes that the scammer didn’t catch that tiny detail.

**mintypenguin**

_Wait, you’re a girl?_

**yeonyoo96**

_No, I’m a guy!_

**mintypenguin**

_You just said Supergirl_

**yeonyoo96**

_I just admire Supergirl. Can’t I use her as an example for a superhero? I think she’s better than any other guy superheroes there is so I used her as an example!_

_But I’m a guy!_

_Yeah right._ Mina chuckles, internal paranoia and panic now subsiding with the way this stranger is replying to her.

 _She’s obviously a girl now. Well, that explains it -_ Mina thinks. 

No wonder why this account thinks she’s a pervert too, because she’s a girl as well and she can sympathize with a woman’s everyday woes and struggles clearly.

And the way the woman defensively denies that she’s a girl- Mina understands it of course. She’s also protecting her identity because she clearly thinks Mina is still a scammer and a pervert.

Slowly, Mina is now getting convinced that the owner of this account is harmless. And that accidental slip of information she just gathered has heightened Mina’s curiousity even more. But she still wants to test the account to further convince herself that the owner is actually harmless-

**mintypenguin**

_So what do you think of Supercorp?_

Jeongyeon halts on her steps – _how does he know Supercorp? He watched Supergirl?_

She didn’t know how to react so Jeongyeon didn’t reply.

**mintypenguin**

_I think they’re canon. They should be canon, right?_

_Clearly they have feelings for each other, right?_

Jeongyeon reads the message again. She squints, pauses for a bit, hesitates at first, then finally types her response–

**yeonyoo96**

_In an ideal world they’re canon._

Mina’s wide smile is now softer and sincere. Suddenly the phone in her hand now feels lighter. And the panic and worry that has been previously flaring within her is almost gone. 

In all honesty, even earlier when she saw the cute picture of the white pomeranian dog in this account’s profile, and notices the number of posts and followers of the account- her gut feel already told her somehow that the account isn’t a dummy one, and the owner could possibly be harmless.

But now after they’ve exchanged few messages, it’s starting to dawn on her that this stranger, this _girl_ apparently, could just really be a private innocent ig account that she’s accidentally dragged into her drunken shenanigans last night.

So despite Mina knowing that what she’s about to do is risky and dangerous, she follows her instinct this time-

**mintypenguin**

_Hey, no need to find that girl anymore.._

_That’s actually me. This is my dummy account._

_So no need to worry ‘cause I’m a girl too. Just like you._

_I’m not a scammer. And most definitely not a pervert._

_So I trust that you really didn’t save my pictures, right?_

_Just like you said?_

**mintypenguin**

_Sorry for last night. I was just drunk._

_I really do hope you didn’t save my pictures._

_Thanks btw.. for the concern.._

**mintypenguin**

_and yeah.._

_I hope we’re living in an ideal world where Lena gets to freely kiss her Kara_

This is weird. Jeongyeon doesn’t like what she felt after reading the messages– it’s against what’s her logical brain is telling her how to rightfully react. 

What she’s feeling right now is not what she’s supposed to feel in this unusual situation. 

But why does she suddenly feel a strange connection now to this anonymous account who could very well be a dangerous criminal?

Jeongyeon doesn’t know how to properly respond after that - so she didn’t.

Jeongyeon didn’t reply anymore. But she didn’t block the account either.

More than a week has passed and Jeongyeon continues on with fulfilling her routinary everyday life of working multiple part-time jobs and studying for college. 

Her college life is so hectic that she didn’t have the time to investigate about the validity of the account anymore. 

One night, after an exhaustive day of working at the café and tutoring students, she plopped her tired body down on her single bed and lets out a long exhale.

It’s been such a hectic week for her and the finals week feels nothing but hell. She barely has time to unwind and do other stuff aside from studying and working.

Everything is so fast-paced and routinary for her, but Jeongyeon is not complaining.

At least she still goes to college, at least she has jobs to pay the bills, she gets to buy food on her table, she gets to give some money to her family. Others aren’t so lucky, so Jeongyeon isn’t complaining.

She’s still on track with her plans for her future, so Jeongyeon is always grateful.

Always responsible, always grateful, always selfless – Yoo Jeongyeon could very well be the most ideal daughter a parent could ever wish for.

Yet tonight, Jeongyeon is just tired. 

Jeongyeon just finished another long hectic night and she’s just extremely, really exhausted.

Still lying on her bed, she reaches out for her phone and lazily checks her socmed accounts to unwind.

Her brows then furrowed automatically when she notices her recent ig follow request.

And the temporarily forgotten moment of doubt and unusual feelings in her chest start to resurface again-

**yeonyoo96**

_Why do you want to follow me?_

**mintypenguin**

_oh, I thought you blocked me already._

_I just want to check that you’re really not a scammer._

_coz you already saw my pictures, and I think it’s really unfair that I don’t know how you look like._

**yeonyoo96**

_I still don’t believe you._

_That you’re really the girl in the pictures._

_I’m not falling for your tricks._

It’s not entirely true. Although she doesn’t want to admit it, a part of Jeongyeon actually believes her now after their last conversation many days ago.

But she will not let her guard down- after all, the world is still full of opportunistic and deceitful people.

Mina rolls her eyes after reading the response, but she replies anyways. She’s really curious about this private account.

**mintypenguin**

_don’t you think I’m actually the one on the losing end here?_

_For all I know you’re the real scammer between us_

**yeonyoo96**

_nope. Still not falling for your tricks._

_Besides, you’re using a dummy account and mine’s my personal ig_

_So nope. Ain’t accepting._

Mina lets out a dry chuckle when the girl straight up rejected her follow request. 

She can’t believe it- her ego is actually hurt now.

So before she even knows it, she’s already posing for a selca in her bedroom. 

What is there for her to lose anyways? The girl has already seen her bare shoulders and collarbones. This cute selca is way more wholesome than her previous set of pictures.

**mintypenguin**

_[sends selca]_

_There! you believe me now?_

_That one’s recent- as in like 10 seconds ago recent_

Jeongyeon blinks twice. And her heart suddenly skips a beat. 

_Cute. Really cute. Like super cute. Shit!_

_No. No. No. No!_

Jeongyeon slaps herself, like physically, actually slaps herself hard- _Focus, Yoo_. 

She should know better. She MUST know better!

**yeonyoo96**

_I still don’t believe you._

_You could have more photos of that girl saved in your phone._

_So nope. Nice try though._

**mintypenguin**

_you’re really one tough cookie aren’t you?_

_what do you want me to do then to prove it to you?_

_do you want a video?_

A video? _Hmmm…_ Jeongyeon looks up from her phone- _good idea_.

**yeonyoo96**

_Ok, record a video of you saying “mintypenguin is a scammer and a pervert” and then I’ll believe you_

**mintypenguin**

_What?? No way!_

_I am NOT a scammer and a pervert!_

**yeonyoo96**

_See, you can’t record it in real time because you’re actually not her!_

_*smirking smiley*_

Mina rolls her eyes impatiently- this girl is really testing her patience, huh.

_Fine, you want a video. I’ll give you a video._

So Mina records a video of her saying:

_“Hello. This is mintypenguin and I am not a scammer nor a pervert. Does this face look like a pervert to you?”_

She recorded it cutely with matching puppy eyes and teasing pout.

**mintypenguin**

_[sends video]_

After watching the video, Jeongyeon feels her cheeks burn and she reflexively throws her phone on the bed out of immediate gay panic.

_Relax. Relax! Yoo Jeongyeon relax!_ She holds her erratically beating chest.

_Whew. Damn. Hot damn. So it’s really her?!!_

Jeongyeon crawls on her bed and retrieves her phone.

She replays the video again, and again, over and over again, just for good measure. 

There’s now a shit eating grin plastered on her face while her eyes are still fixed on her phone screen.

**mintypenguin**

_so?? do you believe me now?_

It’s only then that Jeongyeon realizes she hasn’t replied to the girl yet.

**yeonyoo96**

_hmm.. a little bit convincing, I must say._

_I still need another video to fully believe you._

**mintypenguin**

_well that’s unfair._

**yeonyoo96**

_it’s not._

**mintypenguin**

_it’s unfair!_

**yeonyoo96**

_one more video and then I’ll fully believe you._

**mintypenguin**

_only if you promise you’ll send a picture of you too if I do another one_

**yeonyoo96**

_Deal!_

_Ok, send a video of yourself greeting me._

After hitting the send button, Jeongyeon immediately regrets her life decisions.

_Why is she even requesting for a special greeting now?!!_

_Yoo Jeongyeon, you panicking simping lesbian!_

Her logical thinking self now thrown out the window after watching the girl’s video.

The reply caught Mina off guard. This girl is acting a bit dodgy now. Why would she even request such kind of a video from her?

But Mina reckons since she already sent an initial video of her- what else is there to lose? It’s not like she’s requesting for an explicit one, it’s just a simple greeting video. 

Besides, the girl promised that she’ll finally send a picture of her too so Mina eventually obliges, albeit reluctantly. 

Mina really hopes to god she’s not playing with fire here, and that her instinct and character judgment is not failing her.

So she records another cute video of her saying:

_“Hi yeonyoo96! this is mintypenguin, how’s your day? Anyway this is really me, and I swear I’m not a scammer.”_

**mintypenguin**

_[sends video]_

Jeongyeon watches the video with twinkle in her eyes.

She fixes her glasses when it slips a little, as a fond crooked smile is now curving up the corner of her lips. 

_“How’s your day?”_ It’s such a simple generic phrase, from a stranger even more so.

But why does Jeongyeon’s heart suddenly feel lighter, her exhausted body now feeling a little bit less tired. 

And are these wings flapping inside her stomach? She must be hungry again.

Watching and hearing the girl say that phrase to her sends a tinge of warmth within her- a very comfortable warmth. 

And it really made her lips, eyes, and heart smile all at once.

**mintypenguin**

_so my part’s done now. Where’s your picture?_

**yeonyoo96**

_[sends picture]_

**mintypenguin**

_a thumb??_

_Really?!_

_and it’s not even clear!_

Jeongyeon sent a slightly blurry picture of her finger heart over the vinyl record of her roommate. 

At least she’d look cool with the playing vinyl record in the background- _is she trying to subtly impress the girl now??_

**yeonyoo96**

_I said I’ll send a picture of me._

_I didn’t specifically say it’s a picture of my face._

**mintypenguin**

_you’re unbelievable_

**yeonyoo96**

_I’m just cautious, miss penguin._

**mintypenguin**

_after all the proofs I sent you, you’re still doubtful that it’s really me?_

**yeonyoo96**

_nope. I believe that you’re the girl now alright._

_but I’m still not sure if you’re really not a scammer._

_Pretty girls can be scammers too, y’know_

**mintypenguin**

_You think I’m pretty?_

Jeongyeon pauses and thinks for a proper response first.

**yeonyoo96**

_Yes. and all pretty girls do is lie._

When Mina reads the message, she suddenly thought of Nayeon and her heart aches a little.

**mintypenguin**

_well.. I won’t disagree with you on that._

_pretty girls can be really such good liars.._

Jeongyeon would like to reply- “ _pretty girls like you? So you finally admit you’re a scammer, huh?”_

But she senses the hint of sadness in the girl’s response, and she suddenly feels that it’s rude and insensitive to reply such words now. So instead-

**yeonyoo96**

_Are you ok?_

**mintypenguin**

_honestly?_

**yeonyoo96**

_yeah_

**mintypenguin**

_no, I’m not ok.._

And Jeongyeon learns that night the history behind that accidental drunken confession, as the girl tells her the story about the woman that she likes. Jeongyeon’s logical brain nudges her that this could just be another fabricated story made up to scam her even further.

But deep inside, amidst the seemingly sincere and honest messages that she reads from the girl, Jeongyeon’s heart tells her that the story is actually true. 

In fact, she’s already feeling a little mad to the lady who breaks the girl’s heart.

**mintypenguin**

_if you’re really not gonna send me a picture of you anytime soon, at least confirm me one thing_

**yeonyoo96**

_what is it?_

**mintypenguin**

_you’re a girl too, right?_

**yeonyoo96**

_yes._

_I’m also a girl_

Mina smiles at her phone and she instantly feels relieved.

**mintypenguin**

_that’s good then_

*****

Days have passed and for some weird reason, Jeongyeon finds herself still talking to the stranger. 

They talk about anything under the sun, and Jeongyeon realizes that they have actually a lot more in common- from the types of series and movies that they watch, up to their love and fascination for online and video gaming _._

Amidst the hectic pressure of her crazy work life and studies, Jeongyeon feels like this girl is such a breath of fresh air.

She’s that one good friend that she really needed to talk after such a long and tiring day – then her exhaustion is instantly washed away every time that simple phrase flashes on her phone screen:

_“so, how’s your day?”_

The girl tried to follow her again on instagram, but Jeongyeon rejected it. 

And she may or may not have tricked the girl to send a new cute video greeting again, in exchange for another picture of her thumb _(it’s a different angle now!- Jeongyeon emphasized)_ \- much to the girl’s extreme annoyance.

**yeonyoo96**

_why are you still talking to me though?_

_I could really be a scammer._

_You don’t know how I look like yet._

**mintypenguin**

_are you though?_

_a scammer?_

**yeonyoo96**

_no. I'm not a scammer._

**mintypenguin**

_well, I kinda believe you._

_Because if you’re not, I’m really gonna sue you_

_I have a lot of connections._

Jeongyeon chuckles on how the tables have turned now.

**yeonyoo96**

_oh really, now?_

_You’re the one who’s gonna sue me now?_

**mintypenguin**

_yes, and I mean it._

**yeonyoo96**

_then let’s see which one of us ends up in jail after this._

**mintypenguin**

_definitely not me, cause I’m innocent._

_How about you_

_why are you still talking to me though?_

The girl shoots back her earlier question.

Jeongyeon looks at her phone screen for a few seconds. 

She purses her lips and finally composes her honest reply-

**yeonyoo96**

_I like talking to you_

Jeongyeon feels like the seconds are stretching into minutes while she focuses her gaze at the typing indication on her phone screen. The girl is taking a while to reply.. but when she finally did-

**mintypenguin**

_well, I like talking to you too_

_-_ Jeongyeon’s smile is now beaming, while she reads the girl’s reply again, and again, just for good measure.

For the past two weeks, Mina finds herself opening her dummy account more than her main. She enjoys talking to this _yoo girl_ , whoever she is. Mina really hopes that she’s a harmless person.

So far Mina has already sent 4 videos of her and some selcas, and all she’s gotten from the girl are 2 thumb pics and a blurred picture of a grey cat. At least she now knows that the girl is also a college student - that is if she’s being honest with Mina. 

But they didn’t disclose which universities they are from, nor what major or what year they are currently in. 

Despite their frequent messaging nowadays- both girls are still a bit on guard with each other.

Still, she can’t help talking to the girl because she finds it very easy and enjoyable conversing with her. Their conversation just flows smoothly and effortlessly. Mina feels like they just ‘click’ in almost every aspect. 

Her humour even jives with Mina.

Yes, humour. Much to Mina’s pleasant surprise, since her friends always tells her she has a weird sense of humour.

Sometimes, the girl sends her memes and Mina instantly laughs at them.

It’s kind of fascinating and comforting really.

There are moments when this girl even feels more like a friend to her than her in real life friends.

So despite it still being such a risky situation for Mina because she doesn’t know how the girl actually looks like, she can’t stop herself from talking to this stranger. 

Their random conversation then continues seamlessly until vacation break, up until the beginning of the new semester of Mina’s sophomore year.

*****

The strong autumn wind is beginning to blow a colder breeze when the new semester starts, as the summer season finally waves its end. 

The trees surrounding the university roadways are still lusciously green when Jeongyeon passed by them earlier on her way to her last morning class.

But it’s only a matter of weeks before autumn fully claims back their leaves and turn them into a breathtaking foliage of yellowish golds and reds towering the entire university streets and pathways.

When Jeongyeon finally enters their medium-sized auditorium, it’s hard not to notice the overly enthusiastic wave of her friend about five rows away from the still empty teacher’s platform. 

The sophomore climbs up the elevated rows of chattering students to sit into the empty chair beside her friend.

“I can’t believe we’re finally in the same class! I thought you hated History?” 

Sana taps her arm excitedly and Jeongyeon flinches from the slight sting. 

“It’s the only elective available in this timeslot, I had no choice. I need one more elective to fill my required units for this semester. But I still hate history.” 

Jeongyeon explains while putting down her backpack. She grabs her pen and notebook, and quickly checks her phone- _still ten minutes before the class starts, no wonder the professor’s still not here._

“Well that’s unfortunate for you, but luckily for me. Now I have a dean’s lister as my classmate.”

She hears Sana speaking, and even though Jeongyeon is still looking at her phone, she knows that her friend is giving her a knowing stare.

“Nope, I ain’t doing your papers again Sana. Unless you pay me – $10 per page.” Jeongyeon quickly glances at her friend with a mischievous smirk, “Times New Roman, font 24.”

“Yah!! That’s basically scamming!”

“Life is hard. Gotta survive.” 

Jeongyeon winks at her and she shifts her focus again on her phone.

It’s a habit that she’s acquired recently- checking her Instagram messages at this hour. Because it is during late mornings when she gets her first message from… Jeongyeon’s foolish grin appears as swiftly as the strong autumn wind that rustles the trees outside-

**mintypenguin**

_Goodmorning, scammer._

_Goodluck on your first day of classes._

“Don’t I get a special friend discount?”

“No.” Jeongyeon replies, not even sparing Sana a glance because she’s already typing a response to the message.

**yeonyoo96**

_Morning to you too, miss penguin_

_Don’t cut classes on your first day!_

“Yah!” Sana slaps her arm again, “How could you-- Oh wow look at that.”

The shift in her friend’s tone from irritated to flirting is so obvious that Jeongyeon finally looks at her friend again- “What?”

Sana’s gaze is fixed towards the classroom door, a satisfied smirk on her lips-

“A literal eye candy. My favorite type of sweet.”

When Jeongyeon follows Sana’s line of sight, she instantly feels her breath hitch. 

And everything that happens right after that seems like a cliché scene in a romantic film-

Her time pauses, warping her reality into a series of washed out slow motions.

The chattering noises in the room now suddenly muffled into a faint distant sound, that the only thing that she hears is the nervous beating of her heart.

**_Pretty_** – is the first word that registers in Jeongyeon’s mind when she first sees the girl standing elegantly by the door.

**_Hot -_** the thumping of her heart gets louder when the blonde girl starts walking closer towards their area.

“Hi, is this seat taken?” 

The girl points to the empty seat beside her, but Jeongyeon couldn’t reply. 

How could she? She’s still stuck in her limbo of starstruck awe.

“No. That’s vacant. By the way I’m Sana!”

The girl smiles back at her friend and Jeongyeon is stunned- **_Damn._**

She finally takes her seat and flashes another smile towards her, right hand now outstretched for her to take-

“Hi, I’m Mina.”

****

****

**_Holy_ **

**_Shit._ **

****

Miss penguin is even more breathtaking up close. 

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: idk yet. lol
> 
> yes, the title is based from Taylor Swift's willow.
> 
> and yes, Jeongyeon's ig profile picture is Bbosong.
> 
> Mina's drunken picture spamming are from Yes, I Am Mina photo sets.
> 
> and yes, Jeongyeon's thumb pictures are from her ig stories, those with vinyl records.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts on this fic.. should I continue this? XD


	2. All in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's be honest: Jeongyeon IS distracted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it’s JeongMi day in a few hours, and because it’s hearts month: enjoy this unadulterated pure JeongMi fluff and crack!

*****

Halfway through the class, Jeongyeon doesn’t understand a single thing about whatever the hell their history professor with slick white hair and sleep-inducing monotonous voice is saying in front of them.

She assumes that the professor is currently discussing about their course syllabus, given the document’s header in big bold font that is being projected in their white board now-

**_Course Syllabus, Fall Semester 2021 – History 180: World History_ **

****

_Right._ It’s the first day of the new semester, of course professors would most likely discuss the outline of their teaching courses. 

Yet so uncharacteristically of Jeongyeon today, she doesn’t have any ounce of interest right now about those bulleted strings of topics being flashed in front of her.

Mainly because she’s still wrapping her mind about the fact that she just had a handshake with miss penguin like 30 minutes ago and the memory and feeling of it is still fresh on her mind, in her right hand- 

_damn why is her hand so soft, so white, so pure, so --_

“Jeongie.. Jeongie..” Her mindless daydreaming is momentarily disturbed by Sana’s nudging and whisper again, so she looks on her friend’s side and shoots her another subtle glare- for the fifth time today since their professor arrived.

_“No.” -_ Jeongyeon soundlessly mouthed to her friend, and Sana just returns her glare but her version is softer and less threatening because well, she’s Sana.

The bubbly sophomore retrieves in her seat once more, sighing in defeat, and goes back to her doodling after being rejected by Jeongyeon, yet again for the fifth time today, for them to switch seats.

Jeongyeon wouldn’t dare give up her seat today – _hell no!_

Despite the fact that she’s too distracted by the pretty hot blonde girl sitting beside her. 

She wouldn’t dare give up her seat today, despite the fact that her heart rate is quickening its pace each time miss penguin chances a movement towards their direction.

Her seat today is perfect - with their chairs just barely having two feet of distance between them, Jeongyeon marvels on the proximity and takes in all the _godly_ details.

Myoui Mina - for the lack of a much better description, and Jeongyeon’s starstruck-induced inability to come up with a more appropriate term to describe her today - is _breathtaking._

Sitting beside her now, Jeongyeon can only gape in awe on how perfect her side profile is. 

Her silky long blonde hair is cascading down so beautifully. Jeongyeon is so near that she can see how Mina’s long curling lashes are highlighting her expressive eyes. Those beautiful dark brown orbs that the scholar is sure she doesn’t have enough strength to stare directly into.

The moles dotting her face are even more distinct and uniquely attractive up close – those cute selcas aren’t doing them any justice in real life. 

And the way she holds her pen and writes the notes in cursive screams elegance.

Hell even her name- _Myoui Mina_ \- screams expensive and pure elegance.

_Is miss penguin a real life princess who escaped from her own castle and decided to ruin her life and throws herself in this hellhole of a world called “college”?_

_-_ Jeongyeon internally wonders.

Sitting beside her now, Jeongyeon can only conclude that Myoui Mina is indeed a sight to behold. 

And she’s been dying to know if this perfection of a lady is really the one she’s been anonymously talking to for months now.

_Right._ That’s another thing that’s making Jeongyeon so distracted today- she really wants to confirm right now, to finally seal the deal and brushes off any remaining doubts she still has in her skeptic mind, if Myoui Mina is indeed miss penguin.

Jeongyeon quietly drums her fingers on top of her notebook- her own habit when she’s thinking deeply and internally making life-changing decisions inside her overthinking head.

Her finger drumming pauses when her eyes glance on the huge wall clock above their white board and finally registers the time – 

_only 15 minutes left until their History class ends._

She sighs quietly – _might as well._

So very sneakily, like the konoha ninja that Jeongyeon sometimes think she is, she pulls out her phone, unlocks it and opens her instagram app - all while lifting one side cover of her notebook to hide her phone from Mina’s view.

After ensuring that her phone’s in silent mode, she starts typing..

**yeonyoo96**

_hey miss penguin, you in class today?_

Jeongyeon subtly spares Mina a glance, but the blonde’s focus is still in front- on their supposed lesson for today, and not on her expensive iPhone 12 Pro that is just lying on her desk untouched, beside her notebook.

After one full minute of Mina still listening to the boring rambling of their professor in front, Jeongyeon shifts her focus back on her concealed phone again, feeling defeated. 

Of course Mina is a good college student who listens to their teacher and takes notes.

Of course she's a good student who doesn't tinker her phone and constantly checks if she has a new message from a random stranger whom she just happens to have online conversations with for many weeks now. 

And of course, as a consistent university scholar, Jeongyeon too should really be doing that right now - focusing on their lessons instead of impatiently waiting for a reply that would never com—

Jeongyeon holds her breath when her phone vibrates on her desk:

**mintypenguin**

_yeah… History_

_boring :(_

_you?_

She’s still holding her breath when she slowly whips her head a little to Mina’s side. And there she finally sees it- 

she finally sees how her beautiful blonde seatmate is now holding her iPhone with her gaze already fixed down on the screen, seemingly waiting for a reply – her reply.

_HO._

_LY._

_HEA.VENS MOTHEROF ---_

Jeongyeon clutches on her phone a little tighter.

It’s now all valid and confirmed with her own eyes - miss penguin is indeed Myoui Mina, the beautiful blonde girl sitting beside her in this goddamn boring World History class.

The palpitations in her heart are now getting stronger – Mina looks so adorable trying to shift her attention between their professor in front and down on her phone in subtle motions, while she patiently waits for Jeongyeon’s reply.

_She’s really waiting for my reply? -_ Just the mere thought of it already elicits an involuntary smile in Jeongyeon’s lips.

Unknowingly, her smile turns into a wide foolish grin while she continues to stare at her cute blonde seatmate - the final sealed realization is completely overwhelming her simping gay self.

Mina might have sensed that Jeongyeon is _not-so-subtly_ staring at her now with wide eyes, because the blonde suddenly looks at her side and for two whole seconds - she locks eyes with Jeongyeon.

The scholar was completely caught off guard and she feels like a huge chunk of air is pumped out from her lungs when Mina continues to hold her gaze.

And she’s all too dazed and consumed by her own internal panic that she fails to notice the slight tinge of pink that appears on Mina’s cheeks.

The blonde then shyly hides her phone, looking all so guilty when her classmate seems to have caught her using the device in class.

Her shy reaction only makes Jeongyeon’s smile grow wider.

 _Why so freaking adorable miss penguin?_ – Jeongyeon thinks to herself as she unlocks her phone again and starts typing her reply: 

**yeonyoo96**

_yeah, still in class_

_it’s boring too.._

_..but you know what?_

Jeongyeon steals another glance at her seatmate before she types again-

**yeonyoo96**

_at least I’m enjoying the view here_

_:)_

When the clock strikes twelve noon with Mina now finally out of her sight, it’s only then when Jeongyeon realizes that she didn’t understand a single thing that transpired in their history class.

It’s a first for her since she started studying in college, so the scholar mentally scolds herself and decided that she’s had enough gay panicking moments for today.

After all, she still has a lot of responsibilities to attend to and simping over an insanely gorgeous blonde girl during class should not be one of them.

So as a form of _punishment_ to herself, Jeongyeon spends her lunchtime advance reviewing for one of her major subjects this semester in their college canteen.

“Why are there so many books in our table? Jeongie, you should be eating not reading, loosen up!”

Sana gives her an _are-you-seriously-reviewing-now-during-the-first-day-of-classes_ look.

“I just want to be prepared, they say that our prof for this subject is a terror one.”

Jeongyeon bites on her sandwich, “Besides, I _can_ eat and study at the same time. I’m good at multitasking.”

Sana just scoffs at her friend, before her eyes glint a mischievous spark that Jeongyeon knows very well- that specific _glint_ which majority of the time sends them both into _trouble._

“Anywaaay..” Sana begins, stretching out the last syllable far too long making Jeongyeon feels more nervous, “Free up your 5PM schedule next Monday, we’re going to an orientation.”

“What orientation?” Jeongyeon is now looking down at the flyer that Sana puts on their table. “Red Cross Youth?” Her gaze is now back at Sana after reading what the flyer is about.

“Yup, we’re joining an org next Monday.”

“I’m already a member of an org, Sana.”

“An org that’s not related to your major, Jeongie. Besides this one is for a good cause. They do volunteering and.. other stuff.”

“Since when are you interested in volunteer works?” Jeongyeon sends Sana a suspicious look, she knows her friend too well to fall into her trap.

“Since today.” Sana replies, not really minding the way Jeongyeon is looking at her. “So free up your Monday after class next week so we can attend their orientation.”

“Nope, I can’t. I have a shift at the café around that time.” Jeongyeon firmly responds, redirecting her focus back on her books.

“Oh come on Jeongie.” Sana changes her tone a pitch higher, “Don’t you want to mingle with students from other majors too? Don’t you want to be a member of an org with me?” 

“Not really.”

Sana holds Jeongyeon’s arms as she tries to persuade her friend more,

“You know what- their members are very pretty too. The girl who gave me the flyer has bobcut hair and gorgeous body line. I’ve never seen a girl that hot in our campus before.”

“Aha!” Jeongyeon looks at Sana again, now with a knowing grin on her face,

“So that’s your ulterior motive. I knew it!”

Sana rolls her eyes and waves off her friend’s annoying grin, 

“Fine. You caught me. So Monday next week? We’ll go to their orientation together.”

Jeongyeon shakes her head,

“I told you I can’t. I have a job, Sana. It’s more important than joining an org I have no interest in just because their members are pretty. I have more important stuff to do, you know that.”

After seeing Jeongyeon’s firm stance, Sana eventually gave up because she’s aware how responsible and hardworking her friend is. She’s aware how the scholar values her time very well, in the middle of managing her hectic college studies and multiple part-time jobs.

*****

Later that Monday night, Jeongyeon plops down on her bed exhaustedly after her tiring shift at the café. 

In between attending the rest of her classes in the afternoon and making customer orders at their coffee shop, Jeongyeon momentarily forgets about Mina.

Not until she gets her phone, opens her instagram and re-reads their conversation earlier this morning.

Jeongyeon smiles when she reads on the digital clock and realizes that it’s almost time for miss penguin’s nightly message on her.

While waiting for her DM, curiousity gets the best out of her so the scholar now finds herself typing - “ _Myoui Mina”_ in the ig search bar.

_Disclaimer:_ Jeongyeon is not trying to stalk Mina or anything. Nope, she’s just curious, ok? Jeongyeon is just curious if her History classmate has other ig account aside from the dummy one she already knows about.

It doesn’t take five seconds for her to find Mina’s main ig account. 

First: because it’s public. Second: because it has a lot of followers – almost 8k followers to be exact.

Jeongyeon’s mouth is opened slightly in surprise to find out that miss penguin is actually a part-time model and is seemingly quite famous in their university because apparently - majority of her blockmates is already following Mina’s main ig account.

Even Sana is already following it- _wow her friend really moves fast!_

_Have I been living under a rock to not know about her? -_ Jeongyeon wonders while debating internally whether to click that “follow” button too.

But then Mina’s main account is public anyway so instead of following her, Jeongyeon scrolls down and browses the model’s gallery.

And before she even knows it, Jeongyeon has already spent 40 minutes of her downtime just _appreciating_ Mina’s artistic updates in her instagram account.

_Nope she’s still not stalking, she’s just admiring miss penguin’s aesthetically pleasing ig posts, ok?_

Jeongyeon is so immersed in scrolling and ~~stalking~~ admiring Mina’s ig posts that she accidentally clicks the _heart_ icon in one of the updates dated almost two years ago

“Oh shit!” The scholar blurted out loud in panic mode which made her studying roommate looks at her with worry.

“What happened?” Jihyo pauses on her readings and asks her roommate.

“I accidentally liked a girl’s ig post in 2019!” Jeongyeon groans and sits on her bed looking all panic-strickened, “Shit! She’ll know now that I was stalking her account!”

But instead of consoling her, Jihyo is just looking at her amusedly while she snickers at her roommate’s misery. She then stands up, curiousity now flooding her expression as she steals Jeongyeon’s phone away and checks the girl’s account-

“You were stalking Mina?”

“You know her??”

“Of course I know her. She’s my blockmate. How’d you know her? Are you guys close?”

_Oh._ Jeongyeon pauses on stealing back her phone from Jihyo’s hand - 

_So Mina is a Business Management major too.._

“No we’re not close.. I just met her today, we’re.. uhm classmates in an elective.” 

Jihyo is now smirking at her,

“So you just met Mina today and you already have a crush on her? Typical.”

“What?? No! I don’t have a crush on her.”

Jeongyeon denies defensively with a matching crossing of her hands.

“You were basically stalking her. And why so defensive?” 

Jihyo tosses back the phone to Jeongyeon and starts returning back to her own study desk, 

“Mina is very pretty. It’s not far-fetched to have a crush on her. Even I had a crush on her during our freshman year.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. And I’m not ashamed of it, it’s just a crush anyway. So I don’t get why you were all so defensive earlier--- unless?”

Jeongyeon doesn’t like the way Jihyo’s eyebrow raises higher like it will fly out of her face.

“Unless what?”

“Unless you like her already. So it’s more than just a simple crush now.”

“What? No I don’t like her!”

Jihyo’s smug face is now getting more annoying,

“Really now? You don’t like her and yet you spent almost an hour stalking her account and even liked a post dated two years ago.”

“Oh god don’t remind me. And that was just an accident! Shit! What am I gonna do now?”

Jeongyeon panics again after remembering her stupid blunder a few minutes ago.

“She’ll find out that I’m stalking her. Shit I’m so doomed!”

But Jihyo just scoffs at her, “Jeong, don’t stress yourself about it. Have you seen her number of followers? Mina wouldn’t notice it. I’m pretty sure she receives tons of notification every day for her to even notice your single like. You’re not that important to her anyway.”

The last sentence made Jeongyeon pause for a bit.

_You’re not that important to her anyway -_ Jeongyeon wouldn’t admit it, but Jihyo’s blunt statement brings a slight sting within her.

_You’re not that important to her anyway -_ Jeongyeon shakes her head and tries to brush it off, why does it even affect her now?

The scholar quietly sighs - _Jihyo’s right about it though. We’re not that close. I mean, we’re not even friends to begin with. Which means I’m really not that important in her life so--_

Her phone then suddenly lights up, and perhaps Jeongyeon’s eyes too.

And the new notification is enough for the scholar’s already sour mood to have an abrupt 180 degree turn-

**mintypenguin**

_hey scammer how’d your day go?_

Jihyo looks puzzled on why her roommate is now grinning like a fool while staring down at her phone, when Jeongyeon looked like a problematic college student in debt just few seconds ago-

“Are you stalking Mina again and looking at one of her model pictures?”

“No..” Jeongyeon answers, her eyes still fixed on her phone screen, “it’s more than that..” a wide smile now playing on her lips while she types her reply.

**yeonyoo96**

_it’s good now_

_how’d your day go, miss penguin?_

**mintypenguin**

_just now?_

_why, already hectic on your first day?_

_so you actually attended your classes today??_

**yeonyoo96**

_contrary to what you think about me, I’m a good student who always attends their classes._

_How bout you? How’s your first day?_

**mintypenguin**

_well nothing much exciting. Just the usual first days every sem_

_you know, still chill and sometimes boring_

_but hey at least I’ve got pretty classmates this sem for a change_

**yeonyoo96**

_ohh so does our miss penguin gawk at girls today instead of listening to her professors?_

Jeongyeon can only laugh at herself on how she questions Mina about it when she knows full well that she was the one doing it earlier.

**mintypenguin**

_I don’t gawk._

_I subtly admire- there’s a big difference!_

**yeonyoo96**

_subtly admire huh_

_and what does subtly admire mean in miss penguin’s vocabulary?_

**mintypenguin**

_hmm…_

_it means that I noticed how my History seatmate has a freaking attractive jawline_

_It’s so perfect and sharp like it can cut a steak so easily._

_I almost got myself distracted, tbh._

Jeongyeon blinks twice, before her heart starts to do that weird thing again like beating at a much faster speed while she re-reads Mina’s reply-

Hold on. _History. Seatmate. Am I reading this correctly?_

There’s a lot to unpack in that string of messages alone.

Jeongyeon doesn’t want to assume, although the nervous hammering of heart says otherwise.

And before she can even commit another accidental blunder, she’s already composing a much calmer reply-

**yeonyoo96**

_does this seatmate of yours sit on your left side or right side?_

**mintypenguin**

_I just said she has a goddamn perfect jawline and your main concern is which side she’s sitting on??_

_you know as someone who also likes girls- you need to set your priorities straight_

**yeonyoo96**

_I’m not even straight to begin with_

**mintypenguin**

_*facepalm meme*_

_that’s not the point scammer_

_But fine. she’s sitting on my left side._

_she’s the only girl sitting beside me since on my right side is a guy_

**yeonyoo96**

_Is she wearing glasses?_

**mintypenguin**

_How’d you know that?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Just a hunch._

_Girls with perfect jawline usually wear glasses._

This is now really the perfect time for Jeongyeon to send that facepalm meme back to herself. 

That was such a lame excuse and Jeongyeon wishes she could turn back time and stop herself from hitting that send button. She’s pretty sure that Mina is now searching for another meme as a reaction to her lame reply-

**mintypenguin**

_Really???_

_Well maybe you’re right.._

_She’s indeed wearing glasses_

_Which makes her even hotter._

_*smirking smiley*_

Oh wow. That’s… surprising… _Wait what?? Mina thinks she’s hot?!!_

Jeongyeon opens her phone’s front camera and looks at herself _\- is my jawline really that perfect?_

Mina is talking about her, right? I mean she was the only girl sitting beside her during their History class, right?

..but does Mina really think she’s hot?? What on earth did she eat for dinner..

It takes another full minute for Jeongyeon to properly compose a reply that does not in any way reflect the internal panic she’s experiencing right now-

**yeonyoo96**

_Why do you even think she’s hot?!!_

**mintypenguin**

_what's with the exclamation points?_

_if you see her I’m 100% sure you’d agree with me_

Jeongyeon shakes her head, gaping in amusement. 

_Oh miss penguin, I see her every morning in the mirror when I gargle in the bathroom and I have no idea why you think she’s hot._

Now Jeongyeon is used to occasionally receiving some compliments _(and flirtatious comments)_ from the customers in their café, but she usually just brushes them all off.

Yet here she is, sitting on her single bed, smiling like a fool while staring at her phone just because Mina said she is _hot_ and has a _perfect jawline._

It’s really a whole new level when you find out, albeit accidentally, that the pretty girl you’ve been secretly crushing on, admits that she’s somehow attracted to you too.

And her heart is now doing more weird things like flipping and bouncing around her ribcage the more she thinks about it.

**mintypenguin**

_how about you?_

_did you have any luck of having pretty classmate as well?_

**yeonyoo96**

_I do actually._

_I have a very beautiful seatmate in one of my classes today_

**mintypenguin**

_Nice. how does she look like?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Look in the mirror_

**mintypenguin**

_She has blonde hair too?_

The wide grin that’s currently reaching Jeongyeon’s eyes is not coming down any sooner. 

Mina is even more adorable being so dense like this.

**yeonyoo96**

_Yes. and she’s very pretty_

_Like a beautiful flower that blooms in the middle of winter_

Jeongyeon doesn’t have any idea where did that come from nor how did she even have the guts to hit send.

**mintypenguin**

_Ok Shakespeare_

_She’s really that pretty huh?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Yeah super! insanely pretty_

_Probably the prettiest girl that I’ve seen in such a long time_

Mina smirks when she reads the reply. Talking to this stranger always brings her into a relatively good mood. She doesn’t know why, but she suddenly feels playful and a hint of competitiveness runs in her when she lifts up her phone for another cute shot.

**mintypenguin**

_[sends selca]_

_prettier than that?_

Jeongyeon puts her palm on her opened mouth and quietly mutters – _oh my god I’m so whipped._

She holds her booming chest and inhales deeply – _Be still my beating heart._

**yeonyoo96**

_*sends kermit meme*_

_I feel like this is a trap question_

**mintypenguin**

_lol. not a trap_

_I was just teasing you_

_I’m sure she’s prettier than me with the way you describe her now_

Jeongyeon snickers, her heart still beating fast - _Oh miss penguin you have no idea._

**yeonyoo96**

_you’re not wrong though_

_she really is prettier_

_she’s way.. way prettier in person_

*****

When Wednesday comes for another History class, Jeongyeon decided then that for this semester, Mondays and Wednesdays are now her favorite days of the week.

Luckily for her, Mina sits beside her again but Jeongyeon gets too nervous to actually initiate any small talk with her. 

Don’t get her wrong though, Jeongyeon is used to initiating some small talks with pretty girls. After all, that skill is needed for some of her part-time jobs.

But it’s a different topic if that said pretty girl triggers a fluttering feeling within her by just a second of her saying the softest _“Good morning”_ Jeongyeon has ever heard in her entire college life.

Oh god, Jeongyeon almost melted in her seat when she heard that.

It’s really a different topic when that said pretty girl is her crush - because the confident scholar becomes ultimately self-conscious and distracted.

Mina however, seems to be a girl who’s also not fond of initiating small talks. Since Jeongyeon notices that she’s always so focused in listening to their professor in front, and just quietly taking notes the entire time.

Should Mina didn’t tell her about it the other night, Jeongyeon would think that her pretty seatmate’s favorite subject is History - with the way the blonde girl is looking so interested in listening to their boring lesson.

If Jeongyeon didn’t know any better, she’d think that Mina is just another snob rich elitist college student who just happens to be insanely pretty too.

And if Jeongyeon didn’t know any better, she’d think that Mina doesn’t have any interest in her –

_or does she really? Maybe it was all just a dream- Mina saying she’s hot and all._

Needless to say, with all the distractions and unnecessary daydreaming Jeongyeon has spent again while subtly stealing glances at Mina every now and then, the scholar finished the class only knowing that their topic for today is about the early civilizations.

And that’s it – it’s the second day for her to finish a class without a single lesson note written in her notebook. 

Oh wait – Jeongyeon actually wrote something…

_“Myoui Mina Mina Mina Mina *Heart drawings*”_

_Whatthefudge Yoo Jeongyeon??! Are you in high school or what?_

Jeongyeon looks at her note with a full-on dumbfounded expression.

“Sana slap me now.” Jeongyeon commands to her friend so she can wake up from this simping dream.

“What?” Sana answers her with a confused look.

“I said slap me now. Make it hard.”

“I’m not falling for your pranks again, Jeong!”

“This is not a prank. Slap me- OUCH!!” Jeongyeon holds her reddening cheek after Sana slaps her hard. “Why did you slap my cheek??”

“You told me to slap you helloo??” 

“But I didn’t mean to slap me in the face, you could have slapped my arm!”

“You didn’t specify it and now it’s my fault? I just tried to be a good friend granting your wish and now it’s my fault? What the hell is wrong with you today?”

“Nothing..” Jeongyeon exhales loudly as she quietly puts her things inside her bag. 

“..I just need to go back to reality, that’s all.”

She needs to stop this, she knows what this is. And if she continues being distracted like this, it’s gonna reflect bad on her grades.

The scholar then stands up, her shoulders drooping down while she walks towards their university main library – after all, she still has her afternoon shift as the Student Assistant.

After all, she still has her responsibilities, she still needs to fulfill her plans.

Enough of thinking about a beautiful blonde girl that makes her heart floats and flies whenever she catches a glimpse of her adorable gummy smile.

*****

When Monday comes again, Jeongyeon didn’t seat beside Sana during their History class. She sits on a chair that’s already occupied by other students on both sides.

And when Mina enters the classroom and just casually sits beside Sana and seemingly becomes too eager talking to her friend, the scholar didn’t want to admit it to herself.

Jeongyeon didn’t want to admit that she was slightly disappointed when Mina didn’t look to be bothered at all by the obvious change in their seating arrangement.

However, it seems to be a good move for her since for the first time since the semester begins, she finally gets to fully listen to their history lessons. 

Their professor’s monotonous voice is still excruciatingly boring - but hey at least her notebook is now filled with actual notes from their lessons, instead of some random doodles relating to a beautiful blonde girl that’s already sitting far.. far away from her.

Later that night…

**mintypenguin**

_I hated our History class today_

**yeonyoo96**

_Why?_

**mintypenguin**

_My crush was seating on a different row :(_

Jeongyeon nervously gulps.. she still doesn’t want to assume so she types-

**yeonyoo96**

_You have a crush in your History class?_

**mintypenguin**

_I already told you about her - miss perfect jawline_

_she’s the only reason why going to that class is still worth it_

_but she wasn’t sitting beside me today :(_

The sad smiley alone is enough for Jeongyeon to feel a little sad too- she doesn’t want it when miss penguin’s mood is down. 

She’s more concerned now by miss penguin feeling a little sad tonight than the fact that Mina just straight up confessed that she actually has a crush on her too.

So instead of gay panicking again -

**yeonyoo96**

_Do you want dog videos?_

**mintypenguin**

_please_

**yeonyoo96**

_[sends cute dog videos]_

After thirty minutes of Jeongyeon just sending different cute dog videos and Mina just laughing at all of them -

**yeonyoo96**

_Are you feeling better now?_

**mintypenguin**

_Yes! thanks scammer_

_You da best_

_*sends thumbs up meme*_

Jeongyeon finally smiles wider and she feels much lighter too.

**yeonyoo96**

_would it make you feel better if she sits beside you again?_

**mintypenguin**

_who?_

_Oh.. are you talking about my History crush?_

_Yeah I think so_

_since she makes that boring class much bearable for me_

Jeongyeon exhales loudly and looks ahead - towards the brown corkboard of her study desk filled with her scribbled notes and schedules.

**yeonyoo96**

_don’t worry, maybe next class she’ll sit beside you again_

*****

“What are we doing here, Sana? I’m busy you know.”

Jeongyeon asks her friend when Sana has dragged her inside a classroom after finishing all of their classes that Friday.

“I know that your schedule is free this afternoon, Jeongie. Don’t at me.”

“Yes my schedule is free and I’m supposed to use that free time to study in the library today.”

Jeongyeon huffs, feeling irritated when the room is slowly filled with boisterous guy college students. She’s internally thankful that Sana chose for them to sit on a corner where the few other girl students are already sitting on.

“Oh my dear achiever friend, for once try to loosen up. It’s still the start of the semester anyways.” Sana smirks at her, and that suspicious _glint_ in her eyes are back again. 

“I’ll show you today what you’ve been missing on.”

“Fine.” Jeongyeon scoffs while scouring for her book inside her bag, 

“I’ll just review in here then.” 

“Go ahead. Just watch and support me, ok?”

Sana winks at her friend, the _glint_ in her eyes becoming even clearer.

“Hey princess! What are you doing here? I thought you’re not gonna join the bidding this sem.” 

Momo becomes giddy after seeing Mina enters their members’ room.

“Yeah I won’t. I’m just bored so I went here.” Mina replies plainly.

“Well that’s a shame. Irene really wants you to join this sem too. We collected so much funds last year because of you.”

Momo winks at her friend.

“I don’t really feel like joining this batch.. got a lot of seasonal majors this sem. Maybe next year. I’m just curious about our applicants today. I wasn’t able to attend our orientation last time..”

Mina slightly opens the door leading to the other room where their waiting applicants are sitting.

She peers curiously and frowns upon noticing something,

“Why so many boys again. Are these all of our applicants this sem?”

Momo walks near and looks through the other room too,

“I think so, the room’s almost full now. Oh there she is! My favorite applicant. I hope she bids on me today.”

“Where?” 

“There, the girl with the long pink hair. She’s super pretty and nice too!”

When Momo points on a certain corner, it’s not Sana that she immediately sees.

Mina will instantly recognize that other girl’s back even from 50 meters away. 

How could she not? When she’s spent almost 40 minutes of their History class just staring at her back during that one time when she wasn’t sitting beside her.

A wide gummy smile is now tugging up her lips when she asks Momo again,

“So they are all applicants right?”

“Buddy Bidding?”

Jeongyeon whispers to Sana quietly after the org’s president has finished her introduction about the event that Sana is attending today.

“Yup. We’re going to bid for our member that we’d like to be buddy with for the entire semester.”

Sana’s smile is so excited and radiant.

“and I already have set eyes on one member. I’m going to get her today no matter what!”

Jeongyeon looks so displeased and unamused,

“You’re gonna waste your money for that? And why are they using the members for it? Sounds like a scam to me.”

“It’s not a scam! It’s a fundraising activity. I told you this org’s involved in volunteering and stuff so they’re gonna use the funds for that.”

“Still sounds like a waste of money to me.”

Jeongyeon protests while going back to reading her book.

Shortly afterwards, the _Buddy Bidding_ event commences, and in all fairness to the org members, as an spectator, Jeongyeon is having fun watching the event transpires – it’s equally both exciting and fun.

One thing that she notices however is that the guy applicants are so much more aggressive in bidding, especially if the member is a very beautiful girl. 

Sana almost lost to a guy student, but eventually won Momo for a whopping $450 bid.

Jeongyeon couldn’t believe that her friend would spend that much money, but then again Sana’s family is more on the well-off side so that amount is just nothing for the pink-haired Psychology major.

_“Ok applicants, we’re finally down to our last member for tonight.”_

When Seulgi, the host member of the event said that, Jeongyeon scans the room and notices that the other remaining applicants are two guys who have expectant eyes and annoying smirk on their faces.

_“Just a bit of a teaser so you’d know what to prepare for this member-_

_this member got the highest bid last semester, and the record for the highest bid ever in our org’s history of buddy bidding._

_So without further ado, let me introduce to you our final member for tonight- Miss Myoui Mina!”_

When Mina enters the classroom, it feels like that moment again when Jeongyeon sees her in their History class for the very first time.

Everything feels like a dejavu to her, but this time the only difference is - Mina is not scanning the room seats anymore.

She’s already looking directly at Jeongyeon, while an enigmatic beautiful smile is painted on her lips as she sits on the lone chair in front of the room.

Three weeks in of them being seatmates together, Mina is still taking all of Jeongyeon’s breath away.

_“Myoui Mina. Sophomore. B.S. Business Management. Hobbies – gaming and sleeping. Dislikes – pretentious people. Motto - If you can beat me in Mario Kart, I’ll buy you a house.”_

When the bidding starts, Mina internally wonders why Jeongyeon is not bidding on her. But then the bidding is still below $100 so she thinks that maybe her gorgeous classmate is just waiting for the right timing.

Jeongyeon anxiously watches the last bidding unfold her very eyes – the two guy applicants are so aggressive in winning Mina that she almost runs out of the room since she couldn’t stand to watch when one of them eventually _“wins”_ her.

The bidding is already on the $400 mark and Jeongyeon is still not bidding on her, even not a single increment of $10 from the latest bid. 

Mina is now getting more anxious and recalculates her spontaneous decision as she looks at the two guys competing to get her –

_is Jeongyeon not an applicant? Oh god, I shouldn’t have joined the bidding roster today._

“$480” The first guy shouts again topping the $450 bid of the second guy.

“$500!” The second guy cockily shouts a second after.

And they still continue to outbid each other in such an aggressive and annoying manner.

“$520!”

“$550!!”

“$580”

“$600!!!”

Jeongyeon is unknowingly drumming her fingers on the desk now while she looks at the two guys outbidding each other.

“$650!”

“$700!!!”

Maybe it’s a mistake. Or maybe it’s fate. Jeongyeon actually doesn’t know, and she honestly doesn’t care. But when she suddenly whips her head in front – Mina is now intently looking at her.

It’s a different kind of stare out of all the Mina gazes that she has seen so far. 

Jeongyeon honestly doesn’t know what kind of gaze is that, but her heart seems to recognize it right away as she instantly raises her hand and shouts with all her might-

“$1,500!!!”

_“And we have $1,500 here for the pretty woman in glasses!”_ Seulgi announces out of surprise when Jeongyeon shouts her bid. _“Anyone wants to top it?”_

The two guys previously outbidding before now look hesitant because Jeongyeon bids more than double the current price.

_“Going once.. twice.. OK Sold!”_ Seulgi walks closer to her, _“What’s your name girl?”_

“Yoo Jeongyeon..” Jeongyeon replies quietly, and Sana is just looking at her with wide eyes.

“Yah! I thought you’re just going to watch??” Her friend whispers to her after tapping her arm.

Jeongyeon thought so too.. She didn't expect she'd bid away a month of her coffee shop salary in this.

_“Myoui Mina’s new buddy and the final winner for our buddy bidding tonight is Miss Yoo Jeongyeon-ssi! Ok buddies, you may now go and meet each other.”_

When Mina stands up from her seat, Jeongyeon stands up too.

And the scholar notices the way how Mina’s previously anxious face slowly eases up while she elegantly walks towards the corner where Jeongyeon is standing.

“H- Hi. We’re uhm.. classmates in History. I’m Jeongyeon.”

Jeongyeon doesn’t know why she’s awkwardly introducing herself again when they’ve been seatmates for three weeks now.

But Mina just shyly smiles at her, 

“I know.. But we’re more than classmates now..”

She suddenly holds Jeongyeon’s arm on the side and the scholar swears she felt some electric sparks fly just from that gentle touch alone-

“Hey buddy.” 

Her voice is so soft and sweet, and her smile widens into a full-on gummy smile that always pulls some strings in Jeongyeon’s hammering heart.

“It was very nice to meet you again. " She squeezes Jeongyeon's arm, "You still remember my name, right?”

And in that moment, when Mina is touching her so gently and smiling at her so tenderly, Jeongyeon decided that miss penguin is indeed a _scammer._

Miss penguin is a very skilled _scammer,_ and Jeongyeon is a very much willing victim.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: buddy dates, anyone?
> 
> Are you guys still ok with the pacing? This fic is completely unplanned so I just go with the flow. Lol. 
> 
> I’m writing based on a playlist and Make You Mine by Public was on repeat while I wrote this. 
> 
> Hopefully I won’t be obsessed with an angsty song for the next chapter. lmao
> 
> P.S. Stream DubChaeng's Melody Project and Sana's featuring MV!


	3. Penguin panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay panic? what's that? Mina certainly doesn't know about that.
> 
> aka the prelude chapter to ultimate *gay chaos*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not in any way responsible if you get diabetes from this chapter. lmao

*****

It’s already near 7PM when the _Buddy Bidding_ event finishes. The org president invited all the applicants to have a dinner in a restaurant near their campus, citing it as a way for the current and future members to bond with each other.

But Mina’s internal hope of spending more time with her new _buddy_ is crushed when Jeongyeon politely declined the invitation - with an alibi that she still has some requirements and homework to finish back at the dorms.

It’s true, but that’s not the entire reason why the scholar refused to dine with the members outside. 

Another reason is that the scholar noted that the restaurant is a bit on the expensive side, and the price of their meal is way beyond Jeongyeon’s weekly food budget.

But the main and more pressing reason on why Jeongyeon mustered up the courage to decline, despite Mina’s gentle hold on her arm, has made her to stealthily drag her friend into the ladies bathroom at the end of the hallway, directly on the opposite side of the classroom where the concluded org event was just held.

“Sana..” Jeongyeon begins after locking the door behind her and ensuring that there’s no other student in the toilet aside from them. “I’ve a favor I need to ask you..”

Sana lazily leans her lower back at the cream-colored granite sink and crosses her arms over her chest. 

She quietly observes her friend’s body language – Jeongyeon is still standing a few feet away from the closed door, her eyes reflect a mixture of self-consciousness and uncertainty, and her hands are nervously playing the straps of her backpack.

The pink-haired student then smiles and replies with a good-natured tone, despite her question being one of the phrases that the scholar despises.

“You need to borrow money?”

Jeongyeon lets out a loud exhale,

“.. yeah.. I don’t have the money yet to pay for the full amount unfortunately.. But I promise to pay you as soon as I get my salary at the café by the end of this month.”

“Okay. $1,500 is it?” 

After mentioning the amount, Sana notices how Jeongyeon’s face grimaces and she tightens her hold on her bag’s strap.

“... just $1,000 is fine.. I can add $500 from my savings.” the scholar replies quietly.

“Nah, it’s ok Jeongie.” Sana waves off her hand nonchalantly, “Just save that for your ruler funds or something. I know that being an Architecture major is quite expensive too. I can let you borrow $1,500 in full. Really it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, Jeongie. What are rich friends for right?”

Sana replies with a wink and bobs her head, making the ends of her long pink hair bounce slightly.

With the reassuring response from her friend, Jeongyeon finally finds herself smiling, albeit timidly. 

It eases her worry a bit and the scholar moves from her position, taking two steps back to lean against the bathroom wall directly opposite Sana. 

“Thank you Sana. I owe you one.”

As her friend since high school, Sana knows that Jeongyeon usually hates asking favors from someone, especially when it involves money. 

If the scholar really needs something, she’ll work for it and earns it through her own sweat and hard work. 

And as someone who wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Jeongyeon might be the most stingy person Sana has ever met. 

She’s very careful with her own money, only spending for necessities and within her budget. The scholar ultimately despises the thought of having a debt. 

So for Jeongyeon to be standing in front of her today, looking all so guiltily embarrassed because of the careless decision she just made earlier, Sana already knows what’s up. Still she asks-

“Why did you do it, Jeongie?” 

When Jeongyeon just looks at her and continues to stay silent, Sana elaborates after a while.

“Why did you bid on Mina when you don’t even have the money in the first place? You weren’t even an applicant but you ended up having the highest bid after the event.”

“Have you seen those guys competing to get her? I’m sure you’ll do the same if you were in my position.”

Sana just raises her eyebrow signifying she’s not having any of Jeongyeon’s lame excuse. 

The scholar notices it so she finally gives up, exhaling a long tiring sigh first, before responding back with an honest answer. A crooked smile then starts to appear on Jeongyeon’s lips, while she stares back at Sana with a surrendering gaze.

“She looked at me Sana.. she looked at me and I just.. I just had to do it when she looked at me that way.”

Sana remains quiet and didn’t comment after that. But her gaze at her friend softens, and Jeongyeon knows she doesn’t have to explain herself any further.

After exiting the bathroom and when they’re already walking towards the college building’s gate, Sana notices the lighter change in Jeongyeon’s mood. 

The Psychology major takes it as an opportunity to resume her teasing as she gently nudges her friend’s arm.

“Sounds like someone’s having a crush.”

Jeongyeon scoffs, now feeling a little better. The financial woes that’s been bugging her after the event are now gone, and she’s emotionally capable again to retort back at her friend.

“Are you talking about yourself?”

“Excuse meeee. Don’t take me for a high school kid, Jeongie. Correction - I don’t have a crush on Momo, ok? I have a hidden desire for her.”

“Excuse youuu.” Jeongyeon mimics Sana, “It’s so obvious that you have a crush-- wait-- what did you say? Hidden what??”

“HID-DEN DE-SIREEEEEEE.” 

Sana smirks, stresses each syllable and trails the last one as if her life depended on it, 

“..which I don’t plan on keeping hidden for so long if you know what I mean.”

The suggestive lifting of her friend’s brows makes Jeongyeon feel a bit scandalized. Yet knowing Sana, the scholar is not at all surprised by her friend’s insinuating statement.

“No, Sana. I don’t really know what you mean.”

Jeongyeon shakes her head, feigning ignorance as they pass by the building’s exit gate.

“Liar!! If I know you also have a hidden desire for Mina.”

Sana might have said it a little louder that Jeongyeon abruptly stops on her tracks and nervously scans their surroundings.

“Yah!!!” Jeongyeon continues with firm whispered tone, eyes widened in utter panic, 

“Why are you being so loud at this time of the night? What if someone hears you??”

And all thanks to the university street white lamps lining the pathways that Sana can still clearly see the deep red blush that instantly appears across Jeongyeon’s neck and face. 

Sana giggles at Jeongyeon’s flustered state, it only motivates her more to tease her friend.

“Look at you being all so red now, Jeongie.” She flicks the scarlet tip of the scholar’s ears, 

“You’re thinking about it right now aren’t you? Clearly it’s not just a crush. It’s on the hidden desire level now.” 

“Yah!!” Jeongyeon swats away Sana’s teasing hand on her ear. “I’m not like you, Sana. And will you please keep quiet. Someone might hear you and they’ll think it’s true.”

“Glad to be the bearer of the truth then.” 

Sana’s playful smirk and loud chirpy voice only made Jeongyeon panic more, as she quickly scans their area again to ensure that no other org members are within the vicinity.

“It’s not the truth! I don- I don’t have a hidden desire for Mina, ok?” 

Jeongyeon stutters, trying her best not to shout in her defense. She really doesn’t have any kinds of those of intentions for Mina.. at least not for now.

“Your $1,500 bid says otherwise.” Sana winks teasingly.

Jeongyeon tries to snark back but she only ended up opening her mouth without a single snappy comment coming out from it.

“See? You can’t even think of a witty response and defend yourself properly because it’s the truth, Jeongie.”

“It’s really not!” Jeongyeon scowls and walks faster, way ahead from her friend. 

After a few feet of walking she turns around to a still smirking Sana and remarks-

“You know what? I was thinking of helping you with your Statistics problem sets but I change my mind now! Good luck with solving them alone.”

This made Sana stop with her teasing as she walks faster to catch up with her friend. But Jeongyeon runs farther away so Sana runs too while she shouts from a distance-

“Yah Yoo Jeongyeon, I was just teasing you! I still need to pass that cursed subject! Yahhhhh!!”

*****

Mina goes home earlier from their org dinner. She declined their president’s offer to drink and party right after, mainly because Jeongyeon wasn’t there, and she thinks that she already reached her limit of being socially exposed to people today. 

Despite her family’s high profile and stature, Mina in reality is a homebody introvert. Too much social interactions with people stress her out and most of the time it’s jarring for her. 

She’d rather be in front of her computer playing games than tolerate small talks with people she barely even knows.

So after their org dinner, Mina drives back to her own apartment feeling all so good and excited. 

It’s the start of weekend tomorrow and she doesn’t have any Saturday classes nor any modeling stints. 

Mina just upgraded her graphics card and she can’t wait to use her gaming rig again and play ‘till the wee hours of the morning.

But just when Mina’s about to open her computer, she’s reminded of the event that transpired earlier and her lips is automatically shaped in a giddy smile just by the mere memory of Jeongyeon bidding on her. 

For Mina, Jeongyeon looked like a superhero earlier saving her from the catastrophe of being buddied with either of the guy students aggressively bidding to win her - one of them she knows is a member of a fraternity and has a bad reputation when it comes to girls.

It suddenly dawned on her again that Jeongyeon, the gorgeous sophomore that she’s been secretly crushing on, is her actual _buddy_ now.

And as a rule of their organization, she’s supposed to guide and lead Jeongyeon throughout the entire application process, which runs until the end of the semester.

This includes initiating the _buddy dates._

_Buddy.. dates.._ Mina internally panics, all thoughts of gaming until sunrise now gone from her system.

She doesn’t have any problem inviting her previous buddy before because their org’s _“buddy dates”_ is not really how it sounds like – it’s just more of a casual get together with an applicant wherein the current member tells her buddy about the do’s and dont’s of the application process.

But with Mina already taking a secret liking with her History seatmate, it sure has a different implication on her now, and just the thought of the word _“date”_ alone is unknowingly making her cheeks a little warm.

Mina opens her phone and searches for Jeongyeon’s contact - which her new _buddy_ entered earlier when they exchanged numbers after the bidding.

After five excruciating minutes of just blankly staring at the 11-digit mobile number in her phone screen, and another ten minutes of repeatedly typing and deleting words in the iMessage screen, Mina finally gave up and sighs – _gosh, why is this becoming so hard now?_

This shouldn’t be this hard, she’s done this before with her previous buddy. 

But why does it feel so different with Jeongyeon now? And for each time that she types an introductory text message, it always ends up reflecting the inner gay turmoil that she’s experiencing right now-

_“Hi Jeongyeon, this is Mina, your new buddy. Oh btw, we need to go on dates, do you know that? Of course you don’t know. HA HA HA. You’re an applicant and I’m the member, I should be the one teaching you how the application process goes. HA HA HA. …Sorry.. But we really need to go on dates.. Like really really need to go. It’s kinda like in the application rule.. So you kinda don’t have a choice..”_

Mina grimaces at the messiness of her latest message and might have pressed the delete button a little too hard – _gosh, I’m so useless._

For a moment, she contemplated on confiding to Momo about it. So she dials in her friend’s number in hope that she’ll finally get over this initial obstacle of inviting her crush to a mandatory _buddy date._

But Momo is unreachable. And when their org president confirmed that her friend is actually out partying with them getting all drunk and wasted, Mina eventually gave up and just let out a long hopeless sigh instead.

In her dire need of advice for her emergency gay problems, the blonde then decides to get help from the next best person she can reach right now-

**mintypenguin**

_hey scammer, are you still awake?_

_btw I have a problem, need advice!_

_also, how’d your day go?_

Jeongyeon didn’t even hesitate and quickly puts her book down right after hearing the familiar notification sound on her phone.

**yeonyoo96**

_hey miss penguin!_

_my day was awesome_

_how’s yours?_

**mintypenguin**

_it was great and exciting_

_but I kinda have an urgent problem now.._

_maybe you could help me?_

**yeonyoo96**

_sure what is it?_

**mintypenguin**

_hmm.. have you asked a girl out on a date before?_

**yeonyoo96**

_yeah I did. why?_

**mintypenguin**

_that’s great!! I knew I can count on you!_

_hmm... how do you do it? like what’s the process?_

_do you just directly ask it right away or..._

_I don’t know... How do you do it really?_

Jeongyeon slightly squints after reading Mina’s questions – _is she asking someone out?_

**yeonyoo96**

_why do you wanna know?_

_are you asking a girl out on a date?_

**mintypenguin**

_yeah kinda.. and I don’t know how to properly do it._

_I haven’t done this before to a girl that I really like..._

_and I don’t wanna embarrass myself infront of her_

_so could you please give me some advice?_

Wow. That was completely unexpected. 

Mina wasn’t mentioning other girls aside from Nayeon and her. Yet apparently, her pretty blonde seatmate has other crushes too. Or is she talking about Nayeon?

Well, what did Jeongyeon expect? It’s not like she’s expecting Mina to tell her every single updates on her girl crushes right? _Right?_

Jeongyeon didn’t expect it to sting this hard, yet it did. She just spent $1,500 earlier for Mina and here’s the same girl asking her for some date advice. For other girl!

And for the next remaining minute, Jeongyeon contemplated if she’ll just leave her on read. 

But this is Mina. And the scholar notices that for the past couple of weeks that they have known each other, Jeongyeon finds it quite difficult now to resist any favors from the girl.

So despite it hurting a little bit, she still types her reply-

**yeonyoo96**

_Well it depends on the girl really._

_How are you planning to ask her out?_

_Personal, call, txt? tagging her on twt or ig live or what?_

**mintypenguin**

_hmm.. I’m planning to do it via txt because I don’t think I can do it personally yet_

_At least she won’t be seeing me if I blush here or something_

_so.. how should I ask her via txt?_

Jeongyeon wants to see Mina blush too. She must be so adorable when she blushes. But the thought of seeing her being flustered because of someone else makes her heart aches more. 

Still, she types her reply because Mina asked her. And these days- if Mina asks, Jeongyeon always answers.

**yeonyoo96**

_have you two been texting before?_

**mintypenguin**

_No, not yet._

**yeonyoo96**

_you mean it’s your first time contacting her and you’re asking her out on a date already?!_

**mintypenguin**

_yes_

**yeonyoo96**

_woah_

_*surprised Pikachu meme*_

_didn’t know you move so fast miss penguin!_

**mintypenguin**

_well we’re kind of pressed with time._

_We need to go on 10 dates by the end of the semester_

Jeongyeon scoffs bitterly – _who tf is this lucky girl?! Instantly getting 10 dates with Mina just like that??_

_Is she even willing to spend $1,500 just for Mina?? Is she??? Did she???!!!!_

The scholar might be internally crying now by the thought of her $1,500 hard-earned money disappearing from her savings account and Mina going on a date with someone else.

Still by the rule of the simping universe, the scholar replies-

**yeonyoo96**

_Then you have to introduce yourself first_

**mintypenguin**

_Introduce myself?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Yes, miss penguin_

_you have to let her know first who you are_

**mintypenguin**

_But she already saved my number_

_Wouldn’t my name be in her contact list already?_

If Jeongyeon isn’t being so grumpy right now because of jealousy, she’d find Mina’s clueless state ultimately adorable.

**yeonyoo96**

_You still need to do it. Remember Rule #1: Never assume!_

_What if she accidentally deleted your number? You’ll never know_

_So you have to introduce yourself first, miss penguin._

**mintypenguin**

_Ahm.. ok.._

_That’s the first text?_

**yeonyoo96**

_Yes, miss penguin. That’s the first text_

It’s already been ten minutes since her last reply but Mina still hasn’t responded back. 

Jeongyeon is wondering if the blonde girl has already fallen asleep. 

But just when she’s about to go back to her books, she receives a new notification. And the scholar is surprised when she unlocks her phone – because the new notification is not from instagram this time.

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Hi, I am Mina

“Yes, you are Mina.” Jeongyeon involuntarily comments on the new text message aloud.

_Wait what?? Why is Mina texting me?_

**mintypenguin**

_I already introduced myself. What’s next?_

Jeongyeon is suddenly confused. Though she doesn’t want to give much color in the sheer coincidence because remember: Rule #1! 

**yeonyoo96**

_wait for her to reply first and acknowledge you._

_Then ask her if she’s available on the day of your planned date_

After 15 minutes…

**mintypenguin**

_she’s not replying :(_

**yeonyoo96**

_she might be asleep?_

**mintypenguin**

_she read it already!_

_I was seen-zoned :(_

_*sad dog meme*_

_The audacity of this bitch to seen-zone Mina! -_ Jeongyeon is now furious.

She’s so consumed by her growing irritation towards this unknown girl that it only occurred to her that she hasn’t replied back to Mina’s text yet. So despite them already chatting in ig, the scholar opens her iMessage and finally responds back to the blonde’s message.

**[My Buddy 💚]**

Hello Mina!

what’s up?

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Hey buddy! ☺️

Sorry if I wake you up..

Are you free next Friday after class?

**mintypenguin**

_OMG she finally replied back!!!_

_I already asked her_

_Oh gosh what if she says no?_

_I’m so nervous…_

Hold on. _Wtf is happening??!_ The familiar fast beating of her heart is back again and the reality of the situation is now slowly dawning on Jeongyeon _.._

**yeonyoo96**

_wait.. the girl that you’re asking out on a date_

_who is she?_

**mintypenguin**

_oh I forgot to tell you- she’s my History crush!_

_we’re org buddy now_

_she bid on me earlier, and I’m so happy!_

_Wait. Wait WAITTT! OH MY GOD????_

_I need a moment. I need a DAMN MOMENT !!_

Jeongyeon holds her chest and tries to calm down her palpitating heart - _Is this really happening?_

She reads Mina’s txt again and smiles at her phone screen like an idiot _-_

_"Are you free next Friday?”_

**mintypenguin**

_she’s still not replying yet.._

_Oh gosh, I scared her didn’t I?_

_Miss penguin, will you please spare me a minute ma’am!_

_How do you expect me to properly function right after knowing that I have to go on 10 dates with you?!!_

Jeongyeon is still not done with her internal screaming apparently.

It takes three full minutes of breathing exercises for her to fully compose a calmer response-

**yeonyoo96**

_what do you want her reply to be?_

**mintypenguin**

_well.. hopefully she’s free on that day_

**[My Buddy 💚]**

I’m free.

For you, I’ll free up my schedule anytime. 😉

**mintypenguin**

_*sends penguin panicking meme*_

_Consider me dead now_

_I have officially ascended the gates of heaven_

Jeongyeon grins widely after reading Mina’s reply - _I knew you’re an angel!_

**mintypenguin**

_she said.. she said she'd free up her schedule for me_

_*sends cute kitten crying meme*_

_why is she so cool?_

_oh my gosh my crush is so cool!!_

_I'm cool? Where? What part? -_ Jeongyeon wonders again as she types her reply-

**yeonyoo96**

_no don’t die yet._

_what happened?_

**mintypenguin**

_she confirmed it! She’s free next Friday!!_

_Oh my gosh I am blushing so hard now. I think_

**yeonyoo96**

_can I see the blush? 👉👈_

Mina quickly takes a snap of her blushing form and sends it to the stranger.

**mintypenguin**

_[sends selca]_

_that’s a blush right?_

When the picture finally appears, everything stops for Jeongyeon. She then wonders if this is all just a dream.

The selca is perfect. Mina isn’t wearing any make up and she just loves the raw unfiltered details of her moles and the pink hues on her cheeks. 

It’s so so beautiful. Mina’s beauty is out of this world.

After a few minutes of just stupidly staring at her phone screen, Jeongyeon finally moves and zooms in to the picture a bit to check the adorable blush on Mina’s face-

_Did I just really make her blush? Am I really the one who’s doing this to her?_

Good thing her roommate isn’t with her right now or else Jihyo will think she’s crazy gaping widely and grinning at her phone screen like an idiot for god knows how many minutes now.

**yeonyoo96**

_yeah. I think that's a blush_

**mintypenguin**

_really? I knew it!_

_good thing I asked her via txt._

_oh wait, I haven’t replied back to her yet_

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Oh no, you don’t have to do it.

I can adjust to your schedule, buddy. ☺️

So Friday next week after class?

**[My Buddy 💚]**

It’s all blocked now for you, buddy. 😚

Mina’s blush deepens at Jeongyeon’s latest text, especially when she sees the kissing smiley at the end.

_Is that a kissing smiley? That's a kissing smiley right??_

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Thank you, buddy. ☺️

See in you in class, then?

**[My Buddy 💚]**

Can’t wait. 😚 

**mintypenguin**

_she’s sending me kissing smiley!_

_Why is she sending me kissing smiley??_

**yeonyoo96**

_you don’t like it?_

**mintypenguin**

_I do but I can’t take it_

_it’s too much for my heart!_

**[My Buddy 💚]**

Goodnight buddy 😚 😚 😚

**mintypenguin**

_Oh my gosh????_

_Scammer, thank you very much for your service_

_I am officially signing off_

Jeongyeon is giggling so hard now at her study chair. Her cheek muscles might hurt after this from smiling too much but she doesn’t care. Mina is making her feel so alive and giddy again. 

All these butterflies won’t stop flying in every corner of her tummy.

**yeonyoo96**

_Good night, miss penguin_

_*sleeping puppy meme*_

_Good luck with your date!_

**mintypenguin**

_*sleeping penguin emoticon*_

_Good night, scammer_

_Thank you again really!_

_You’re such a life saver_

**yeonyoo96**

_Anything for you, miss penguin_

_sweet dreams!_

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Good night, buddy ☺️

**[My Buddy 💚]**

😚 😚 😚

And it might have taken Mina almost a full hour, and some twists and turns on her bed, before she finally recovers from the fluttering blows of that last batch of kissing smileys.

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I just got back to civilization with internet and decided to post this short chaotic update nonetheless. hope you still enjoy it. XD
> 
> this is supposed to be longer with their buddy date (or dates) *ehem* but I was having so much fun writing them and I still haven't finished it. lol.
> 
> anyways, all comments are appreciated! happy (late) weekend, i guess.


	4. Moves like Jagger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens.. or gets heated.. I’ll let the readers decide which is which.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we finally got a new JeongMi selca- enjoy this longer update!

*****

Jeongyeon couldn’t help but to send her annoying classmate’s back a disgruntled scowl across their lecture hall when that said classmate raised his hand to ask another question.

He raised his hand at exactly 4:57 PM on Jeongyeon’s wristwatch. 

Their last class on a Friday is supposed to end at 5PM, but it’s already twenty minutes past five and their professor is still not done sharing his fascination over modern truss designs.

The scholar is getting agitated now with every second that ticks by on her watch. She sneakily picks up her phone, opens her iMessage and sends Mina a heads up text that she’s probably not gonna make it on their agreed time.

After hitting the send button, the scholar immediately felt embarrassed.

She remembered the recent Wednesday that just passed- remembered how Mina gently tapped her shoulder right after their History class has ended. 

Remembered how Mina’s eyes were shy when Jeongyeon looked back. Remembered how it took exactly four seconds (not that Jeongyeon was counting) before Mina finally managed to mutter a quiet- 

_“I just want to ask-- if..uhm… are you sure you can make it this Friday? I know you’re busy. Sana told me you usually have other stuff to do… I mean it’s totally ok if you can’t make it. I would totally under--”_

_“I can make it.”_ Jeongyeon’s response was immediate, _“Your last class ends at 5:30 right? I’ll be there in your college lobby.”_

Then a subtle blush on the blonde’s cheeks- it appeared as swift as the way Jeongyeon fully turned her body to face her seatmate.

Followed by a tight lipped smile - but it looked like Mina was holding back a part of it.

And Jeongyeon wanted nothing then - but to see more of it.

So the scholar took one step closer and tried to meet Mina’s averting gaze, 

_“I’ll be there I promise. I’m the first person you’re going to see in the lobby as soon as your class ends.”_

Jeongyeon smiled unevenly, “ _I hope you don’t mind?”_

_“I—”_ A short paused beat, and Mina’s blush got a tad bit clearer. _“...I don’t mind...”_

_“That’s good then.”_ Jeongyeon’s cheeky smile got a tad bit higher. 

So Mina bit her inner cheeks harder, finding it rather more difficult to hold back her smile.

The scholar noticed it, no matter how subtle. So Jeongyeon took another step closer and delivered the final blow, _“You know what, buddy?”_

_“What?”_

_“I can’t really wait for Friday to come.”_

And the reaction was instantaneous, Jeongyeon too wasn’t able to hold back her grin when it finally appeared - that adorable full-on gummy smile, all wide and beautiful for the scholar to see. 

And right in that moment, while she and Mina were still standing at the back of the classroom, right when their History lecture hall was just getting devoid of exiting students, Jeongyeon really wondered then – why the hell can’t Friday come any sooner.

Well Friday finally comes.

And yet here she is, still sitting through one of her major subjects, clock already striking at 5:35 PM, and their professor is still babbling nonstop while none of her classmates is noting him of the already way beyond extended time.

Jeongyeon, in all her impatient and worried state because Mina’s last class has probably ended, raises her hand and calls out, “Sir!”

“Yes, Yoo?”

“It’s almost 6PM.”

“Oh.” The professor’s face reflects: _No shit Sherlock I thought it’s only 4:30_ , and stares down on his wristwatch. “Guess we ran overtime again, huh. Okay, class dismissed!”

Jeongyeon didn’t waste no time as she hurriedly walks past other students to the hall exit door, and starts running in full speed with the autumn Friday sunset already hovering above her.

It is such a beautiful autumn sunset but Jeongyeon didn’t notice it.

Since she is so focused with the current task at hand – to reach the College of Business Administration as soon as possible, which is eight long blocks away from the College of Architecture.

It’s her first buddy date with her crush and she’s already running late and has broken her promise to be there on time. So the scholar runs even faster, and when she turns up a curb right to the exact street of Mina’s college building– it all felt like a dejavu again.

The way she bumped into someone, the way she fell on the floor, the whiff of the calming scent wafted by the cool autumn air, and the silhouette that’s casted from the setting sun - they all felt too familiar for Jeongyeon.

“I’m sorry.. Are you ok?” Even the sweet mellow voice jolting her from the pain of falling is way too familiar. 

“Yeah I’m ok, are you ok though? I- uh.. sorry I was running late. I wasn’t- I didn’t see--” Jeongyeon adjusted her slanted glasses, “..you-- ”

The owner of the silhouette moves towards her and smiles. “Mina?”

When they stand up together and Jeongyeon gives herself a moment to stare - she finally realizes then how beautiful the sunset is.

Mina’s beauty is even more unreal with the colourful sunset outside peeking beneath her. The wisps of her blonde hair lightly dancing from the autumn wind, and hues from the orange and pink skies are casted beautifully to her soft shining blonde locks.

“I’m fine.” Mina walks closer, her smile even more radiant against the dimming sunset canvass,

“It’s finally Friday, buddy.”

Jeongyeon has to stop herself from reaching out and tuck the few dancing stray blonde strands in front of Mina’s face. 

So the scholar just smiles, her hands tightening around the straps of her backpack,

“Finally.. Happy Friday, buddy.” 

*****

“Are you sure you’re not hurt or anything? I’m really sorry... I promised to fetch you on time, not bump into you on the road.”

Jeongyeon apologizes again, for the 4th time that night, Mina’s laptop sling bag is already hanging on her shoulder. 

She and Mina are now walking beside each other, towards their destination that only the younger sophomore knows where.

“I’m really fine, buddy. You don’t need to say sorry every twentieth step you know.” The blonde girl teases, albeit with a shy voice.

“Am I really doing that?”

“Yes.” Mina smiles and steals a glance at Jeongyeon’s way but the scholar’s gaze is already ahead on the road again. 

She gives herself a few seconds to appreciate the beauty walking beside her. Jeongyeon’s side profile is even more unreal against the pale yellow street lamps lining the road they’re traversing in. 

The ethereal sight elicits a fond smile from the younger girl, but Jeongyeon didn’t see it. 

“You know you gotta stop the habit of crashing into me.”

Jeongyeon, who is still too busy feeling deeply embarrassed because of her broken promise, completely yet unintentionally missed out on Mina’s knowing words.

The blonde then shifts her gaze back on the road again when Jeongyeon didn’t reply.

“… sorry what did you say?”

The scholar’s reaction is two minutes too late and Mina can only giggle and shake her head.

She’s about to repeat her words but the familiar yellow green neon sign is already flashing right in front of them - _Sweet Summer Diner._

Mina looks at her buddy again, eyes squinting in excitement,

“I said we’re here already. I hope you like burgers.”

Jeongyeon instantly recognizes that diner. Because it’s _THE_ diner in their university.

The one that is listed in the _Top 10 University Must Try_ printed in the brochure given to them during freshmen orientation. 

That one famous diner where their seniors always say – _“Your undergraduate life isn’t complete if you haven’t even tried dining in there at least once.”_

The one that has the best reviews and serves, according to the diner owner and to every student that has tried it before- the most “ _heavenly burgers”_ and “ _eureka-moments_ _milkshakes_ ”.

Jeongyeon supposes she’s about to find out now if drinking their milkshakes could actually trigger her to discover the cure for cancer. 

Since here she is tonight– nervously sitting across her crush in a corner table for four, desperately racking her brain on how to properly start a conversation with Mina.

It has been a while since Jeongyeon last went out alone with a girl that she really likes.

Despite her secretly knowing that Mina also has a crush on her, Jeongyeon still feels extremely conscious and tense around the pretty blonde girl.

Thankfully though, her buddy is still busy browsing the menu.

So Jeongyeon takes this opportunity to quietly appreciate Mina’s elegant features that are softly accentuated by the bluish fluorescent lighting of the diner.

_“… and one queen truffle burger, is that all?”_

_“Yup.”_

_“Serving time is about twenty to thirty minutes.”_

_“Okay, thank you.”_

_“Can I get the menu now?”_

_“Sure.”_

As soon as Mina is done ordering and handed her menu back to the waitress, she glances over at Jeongyeon’s way. The scholar gets startled because she didn’t realize she was openly gawking at Mina from across the table. 

So out of panic, Jeongyeon immediately looks down on top of her table, tapping both of her opened palms on it, pretending to read her menu again but then - 

_why is the menu gone?!! where the hell did my menu go??!!_

The scholar just ended up like someone who’s blankly focusing at a certain spot on her table.

“This--- ” Jeongyeon then tries to lightly wipe the table surface with her thumb, “I think this spot is dirty. This table is really dirty. Why are their tables so dirty...” 

_“Is it?”_ With her head still bowing down, the scholar sees Mina’s hand sliding a pack of tissue towards her side, _“Here. Use it instead so your hands won’t get dirty.”_

The scholar quietly accepts the tissue and rigorously wipes her otherwise spotless table. 

After ten seconds of wiping an already clean table, she finally manages to lift her head and looks across.

And Mina, bless her soul, is just smiling at her without any hint of judgment whatsoever,

“Is it clean now, buddy?”

Jeongyeon clears her throat and nods coolly, acting like she didn’t just wipe a bunch of imaginary dirt,

“Yes it’s clean now.”

“So can I sit beside you now?”

The scholar blinks once, completely taken aback by Mina’s sudden request. She tries to open her mouth but no answer is coming out.

Mina then shyly purses her lips at Jeongyeon’s lack of response, 

“I mean- I just—” She pulls out something from her bag and puts it on the table, “I just need to show you something..” 

She chuckles nervously when Jeongyeon continues to keep mum. And Mina absentmindedly sweeps the cover page of the small workbook with her thumb, shyly looking down at her own table now as she begins to ramble,

“But I guess of course I can just show it to you while sitting here too. I just think it’s better if we’re sitting beside each other you know… so I can like- like guide you properly. but think it’s totally fine if we’re not sitting beside each other-- I mean it’s really totally fine you can just browse through i— ”

“So what is this?”

Mina holds her breath when another hand appears on top of the workbook, and her heart almost combust when she feels someone’s soft palm brushing her backhand. 

The blonde girl immediately retracts her hand from the table because of the unexpected sparks tingling from that slight touch.

But that wasn’t the end of her internal panicking, because when she looks at her right side – Jeongyeon is already beside her, sitting and leaning so much close to her, with their faces only having few inches of distance in between – and Mina suddenly feels like she’s really going to faint.

“So what is this buddy?” Jeongyeon repeats her question in a voice so attractively low, with her breath tinge of peppermint toothpaste that Mina feels her knees getting weaker.

“I—uhm..” Mina gulps, her throat has suddenly gone dry. “It’s uhm.. your applicant sig sheet.”

“My what, buddy?”

Mina slightly leans back, because if she doesn’t- Jeongyeon’s warm breath lingering on her cheeks will be the death of her,

“Your- sig-- signature sheet.”

The scholar then smiles sheepishly, completely enjoying the dust of pink spreading across Mina’s cheeks.

Jeongyeon then moves back a notch and lifts the sig sheet from the table. She brings the workbook in front of her chest and smiles eagerly,

“Let’s see what this is about, then. Can you guide me through it buddy... _please?_ ”

The scholar’s smile is bordering a pout and although Mina finds it extremely adorable, it’s enough for the younger girl to relax a bit. Her heart stabilizes again as Jeongyeon’s poor attempt at puppy eyes made the atmosphere a little more comfortable and less tense.

Going through the contents of the sig sheet and flipping through its pages became an effective distraction for the both of them. 

The small workbook serves as a guide and a checklist which includes the list of current members, and all of the application’s requirements printed in an infographic manner.

Jeongyeon finds it equally fascinating and admirable on how Mina quickly switches from a flustered girl in front of her crush, to a passionate and responsible org member patiently explaining everything to her applicant buddy.

Everything is going on smoothly so far, the awkwardness between them is slightly dissipating.

But then Mina flips through the third to the last page and her heart quickens its pace again-

“uhm.. this is the _Buddy Date_ section.. your buddy, well that’s me, will sign these squares after each date as a proof of completion.”

Jeongyeon then points a finger on each empty printed square filling up the entire page, and starts counting them as if she didn’t already know what it means-

“One two three four…. eight nine ten. Ten?”

“Yes, ten. We’re actually required to go on ten _buddy dates_ by the end of the app process.”

“Really, ten? hmmm... don’t you think that it’s too much?” Jeongyeon looks to her side and catches Mina’s eyes.

_Yes it’s too much for my heart. Oh my gosh stop looking at me like that!_ \- Mina hopes to all heavens above that Jeongyeon is not hearing the hammering beats inside her chest.

The blonde girl braves herself, despite her knees already feeling like jelly, to return Jeongyeon’s challenging stare and replies in an uncertain voice almost hovering on a whisper -

“Do you? ..think that it’s _too much_?”

And for the next couple of seconds, in between the pounding heart beats in both of their chests, Jeongyeon and Mina just quietly hold each other’s intent gazes. 

The scholar then inches closer - both her body slightly leaning in and her palm on the workbook sliding towards the other hand resting on it.

Mina didn’t move back, but Jeongyeon notices the way she gulps.

When Jeongyeon feels her pinky finally brushes Mina’s thumb, she stops moving. 

“I think…”

Mina holds her breath, her brain in the brink of completely going haywire with the burning proximity between her and her crush- 

“..y- you think?..”

Jeongyeon leans more, lips smirking teasingly, voice so low and playful,

“I think..”

Mina isn’t sure then if she has already fainted or what, especially when she feels Jeongyeon’s pinky now lifting over on her thumb, 

“—you think..?”

“I think…”

And then Mina’s stomach starts to growl loudly just when Jeongyeon is about to brush her hand onto the younger girl’s. 

Jeongyeon then chuckles and finally moves away, somehow easing out the already building _tension_ between them, 

“I think you’re starving now, buddy.” 

Mina got shy and nods while looking away from Jeongyeon. The scholar smiles at the adorable sight and raises her hand to follow up their order.

After being promised that their food will arrive in the next ten minutes, the atmosphere between them goes back to normal again. So Mina pulls out a set of cards and lays it on their table, with the logo of their org printed on the other card’s side.

“Are we playing card games now, buddy?” Jeongyeon asks.

“Sort of. We usually play this with applicants to get to know them better. Choose one.” 

Jeongyeon chooses a card, and flips it, loudly reading the question written on the other side –

 _“What’s your favorite colour?”_

The scholar snickers and looks at Mina,

“Really? We could just ask each other that you know.”

“We could. But this is much more exciting because you don’t know what questions you’re gonna get.” Mina smiles wider, eyes glinting in excitement, and Jeongyeon thinks that this version of miss penguin’s smile is one of her favorites.

“So what’s your favourite colour?”

Jeongyeon then shakes her head in amusement but proceeds to answer the question anyway. 

It started off good afterwards, with the cards now serving as their efficient random conversation topics. 

Both of them alternately drawing cards and answering the questions that Mina herself has personally written – _favorite movie, most hated subject in high school, beach or mountain, favorite season, etc._

It started off good and smooth sailing... well until Jeongyeon picks up another card and reads a question that Mina is 100% sure she didn’t write -

“ _Which part of my face do you like the most?”_

“Oh this is finally getting exciting now.” Jeongyeon comments with a smirk after reading the question.

She rested her elbow on the table and props her jaw on her knuckles. 

“So which part of my face do you like the most, buddy?”

Mina looks at the handwriting on the card and instantly recognizes Momo’s penmanship - some of their cards must have been switched when they were updating it in the cafeteria earlier this week.

It’s not her own question but she supposes there’s no harm in answering it already because Jeongyeon is throwing her an expectant look.

So Mina tilts her head, examines her buddy’s face for a little while before she answers back with a tender smile- 

“I like your eyes.”

Jeongyeon slightly squints, a bit surprised with Mina’s answer.

“Really? my eyes? ” - _Not my jawline? But you said my jawline is perfect…_

“I like everything about your face to be honest.” Mina confesses albeit with a quieter tone.

She props her elbow on the table and mirrors Jeongyeon’s position, all without tearing her gaze away from the older girl, 

“But your eyes... it’s your lovely eyes that I like the most.”

It’s Jeongyeon’s turn to be flustered this time – flustered by the way Mina is fondly smiling at her, by the way Mina is intently looking at her as if she’s the only girl in the world that matters. 

And for every quiet second that they just look at each other from the same position, Jeongyeon feels herself melting away from Mina’s unrelenting stare.

“I also like your lips.” The added comment from Mina automatically made Jeongyeon stare at the younger’s lips. 

“What about my lips?” Jeongyeon asks in a breathy voice, not realizing that Mina is now looking at her lips too.

“Your lips- it’s.. it’s prettier when you smile. I like the way you smile. It’s very unique.. very..”

The scholar’s breath hitches when she sees Mina biting her lower lip. So before she completely loses it and dares to minimize the gap between them, Jeongyeon averted her gaze and mindlessly picks from the last two cards in the table.

“It’s my turn to pick up the card now, you know.” The blonde girl smiles and sits upright.

“You were busy staring at my eyes so I did the honour and picked one for you instead.”

Jeongyeon teases back, trying to brush off the unusual desire she just felt while she flips the card and reads the question aloud-

_“If you were to ki—”_

She abruptly stops halfway and her face becomes as red as a ripened tomato in an instant.

“Why what is it?” 

Mina curiously asks while she gently pulls the card from Jeongyeon’s hand and reads the question aloud, turns out it’s also one of Momo’s –

_“If you were to kiss me, can you show me now?”_

The blonde stiffens, and both of them are now sporting a tomato-like faces, immediately turning their heads away when their eyes meet again for a fraction of a second.

_“This is a disaster.”_ Mina internally thinks, as she consciously shifts away from the brushing of their elbows in the diner chair. 

_“is Momo trying to hook up with her buddy or what? What is she even thinking writing those questions…”_

Mina fans herself as she tries her best to look to the other direction, just anywhere away from her buddy’s side.

Jeongyeon too can’t look Mina in the eye now, and she subtly scoots more inches away from the blonde girl as the air around them becomes unusually thick and tense again.

“Are you girls alright? You both look so red, do you want me to turn down the AC?” 

Jeongyeon looks up and finds a waitress standing beside their table holding a tray of burgers and milkshakes.

“Yeah uhh.. we’re good is that our order?”

The waitress then nods and puts the tray of meals on their table.

With their food already served, the two girls proceed to quietly eat their respective burgers and milkshakes. And for a moment, none of them dare to speak as the tension of their last topic is still lingering at the back of their minds.

Mina, in her desperate attempt to shift the still tensed air between them blurted out of nowhere-

“I like pineapples on a pizza.”

Jeongyeon pauses halfway through her next bite of her burger and finally looks at Mina’s way again, for the first time since she drew the last card.

Mina is looking at her with hopeful and inquisitive eyes, as if the next words that will come out from Jeongyeon’s mouth will determine her fate. 

“Why?”

The answer made Mina’s smile falter a bit. The blonde shyly looks away again and goes back to mindlessly stir her half-empty strawberry milkshake - 

“Well, my friends always say I have weird taste anyway…”

“Who cares?” 

Mina pauses her stirring when she hears Jeongyeon speaks.

“You can eat whatever you like, Mina. It’s your taste buds anyway. You can’t force yourself to not like something just because everybody else is saying it’s the not most superior taste of pizza.”

The blonde quickly whips her head and looks at Jeongyeon’s side – the scholar is now flashing her a lopsided yet reassuring smile.

“Your friends just don’t know how to appreciate greatness.”

Mina’s eyes widen- “You think pineapples on pizza taste great?”

“Yes, I do.”

“But my friends say it tastes disgusting and weird.”

Jeongyeon shifts her body to fully face Mina,

“Some weird things to others are those precious things that make other people happy. Does eating pizza with pineapples make you happy?”

Mina shyly nods, her eyes now radiating a different kind of sparkle.

“That’s good then..” Jeongyeon scoots closer,

“Cause I like pineapples on a pizza too, Mina. Eating it makes me happy too.”

Jeongyeon’s genuine smile and words bring a different kind of warmth and comfort within her- like she finally found someone who totally understands and appreciates her peculiar tastes in things.

“Then you have weird taste too, buddy...” Mina quietly teases, trying her best to mask the unfamiliar bloom fluttering within her ribcage.

“That’s okay for me since it’s my kind of weird. Weird is good..” 

Jeongyeon shyly purses her lips- as she’s about to say something straight out from her heart, 

“We can be weird together then if you like.”

And when Mina sees the dopey smile and the adorable blush spreading on her buddy’s face, she realizes then that the Diner is true to their advertisement –

that they are indeed serving _heavenly burgers_ and _eureka-moments milkshakes._

Because after that, while she proceeds on finishing her meal with Jeongyeon eating beside her, every bite on her burger now begins to taste _heavenly_ in her mouth.

And after sipping the last drop of her strawberry milkshake, Mina might not have discovered the cure for cancer but she discovered something else -

That Jeongyeon is more than a crush to her now.

In fact, Mina may have been already on her way to falling in love.

*****

Later that night, after Mina has drove back home to her apartment, she receives a phone call from Momo-

_“Seriously Mina! Tempura or sushi? Do you play Minecraft? Harry Potter or LOTR? Do you like pineapples on a pizza??? What are you 14?!!”_

_“Good thing I still remembered everything I wrote or Sana would think I’m such a boring person.”_

“Hey those are legit questions!”

_“Legit if you’re in high school. We’re already in college, princess.”_

“So I’m supposed to ask a girl to kiss me on our first date just because we’re already in college???”

_“Why not? There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you both agreed.”_

“And that works for you??”

_“Princess, it’s not just the kiss that always works for me. You haven’t seen all of my cards yet.”_

Mina pauses, her ears already reddening by the implication of Momo’s statement - 

“Wait-- Don’t tell me you and Sana..?”

Momo just giggles teasingly on the other end-

_“You know what, you really need to loosen up. Yeri’s throwing another house party after the midterms, and we’re both going!”_

“You know I hate parties...”

_“Yes but we’re still going.”_

“Nope, I’d rather use my precious time playing games than participate in hangover-inducing activities, thank you very much.”

_“Life is short, princess. Our youth is fleeting. College is already hell. Learn to have some fun.”_

“I know. But that is not my definition of fun so.. nope, still not going.”

_“But what if I tell you that—”_

“Oh Jeongyeon has messaged me. Sorry, Momoring gotta go now. Loveyou bye!”

**[My Buddy 💚]**

Did you get home safely?

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Yup! Just got home, buddy. ☺️

Safe and sound. ☺️

**[My Buddy 💚]**

That’s good. 

Ask me how my day was. 😚

Mina pouts in confusion because she certainly is sure what happened with Jeongyeon’s Friday. They were just together an hour ago. Still, she follows Jeongyeon’s request anyway.

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

So how was your day, buddy?

**[My Buddy 💚]**

My day was perfect. 💕 

Coz I just had a date with a very beautiful girl. 😚 

and I had a very amazing time.

There's that fluttering feeling again.

And suddenly, the phone in Mina’s hand feels lighter, feeling like a white soft feather dancing in the wind. 

And with the fluttering comes a blooming feeling - like a precious little flower is rooting its way to live inside Mina’s heart. 

And Jeongyeon’s words are precious drops of water keeping it alive every moment that passes by.

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Whoever she is, she must be so lucky...

**[My Buddy 💚]**

Really? why?

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

Because she got to spend her time with you...

Any girl would be lucky to date you, buddy.

The reply has completely caught Jeongyeon off guard. 

She didn’t expect for Mina to be this brave and actually tell that to her. So it takes some time for the scholar to calm her pounding heart and type a response.

And just when she’s about to reply to Mina again, another message has already come through-

**[Myoui Mina - History]**

I really had fun tonight… I hope you had too.

I can’t wait for the next one.

Goodnight, buddy. ☺️

**[My Buddy 💚]**

I had fun too, don’t worry. 😚

It really made my Friday! 

You actually made my day. 😚.

Goodnight, buddy.

I can’t wait for the next one, too!

Sweet dreams!

😚😚😚

And that night was the first time that they didn’t even chat to each other via instagram DM.

It was the first time that they didn’t talk there since Mina’s accidental drunk confession.

It was the first night - and both of them didn’t even notice it.

*****

The next Saturday after her first buddy date, Jeongyeon went to Sana’s apartment when her shift at the café ended. 

They are now in Sana's living room as the scholar is tutoring her friend in preparation for her Stats exams and upcoming midterms.

“Okay so what’s the problem Jeongie? You’ve been exhaling loudly for the past thirty minutes now and I can’t really focus on my nails. Your loud sighs are sooo distracting.”

Sana puts down her nail polish on the coffee table and gives Jeongyeon a knowing raised brow. 

“Wait, why are you even doing that?? You should be answering the examples I gave you not doing your nails!”

Jeongyeon whines after realizing the opened manicure set beside the spread of books, highlighters and notebooks. 

“Exactly. I’ve been doing my nails for almost thirty minutes already and you only noticed it just now.” Sana carefully puts the manicure set back inside its secured kit,

“So tell me, Jeongie- what’s been bothering you, huh?”

Jeongyeon looks at her friend for five quiet seconds but eventually shakes her head,

“Nah it’s nothing.. Just finish this Sana so we can proceed to the-”

“No!” Sana closes the book that Jeongyeon is giving her and replies firmly,

“I’m not answering anything unless you tell me what the problem is.”

“But you need to pass the-”

“I’m not paying you either.”

“What???”

“I’m not paying you unless you tell me the reason of that consecutive loud sighs of yours.”

Jeongyeon’s surprised eyes then slowly shifts into a retreated one. 

She lets out another loud exhale before replying in a tired voice, 

“…it’s about Mina.”

“I knew it! So what about Mina?”

The scholar shifts in her seat uncomfortably while nervously flicking the pen in her right hand,

“I lied to her.. and I don’t wanna lie to her anymore but I don’t want her to get mad at me either..”

Jeongyeon looks at Sana with confused eyes, 

“I want to tell her the truth already, but I’m scared, Sana...”

The scholar then confesses everything to her friend - the thing that’s been bugging her for weeks now. 

She tells everything from how they started messaging each other in ig DMs, to Mina’s accidental confessions, to how she held off in actually telling Mina the truth because she’s eventually become afraid that the younger girl will despise her afterwards.

“Okay.. So what do you want me to do, Jeongie? To comfort you or to give you advice?”

“To give me advice.. Honest advice.”

“Well it’s just simple- tell her the truth asap." Sana replies matter-of-factly.

"You’re aware that the longer you drag this, the more you’re claiming on the nickname that Mina gave you right? a ‘ _scammer’_. You’re basically lying to her, Jeongie. Mina wouldn’t tell you those things if she really knows who you are. What you’re doing isn’t right. If I were Mina, I would really smack the hell out of you.”

“Mina is not the type who smacks anyone though..”

“No she isn’t. She’s the type who hires someone to do the smacking.”

“What?!!”

“I’m serious here, Jeongie. You asked for my honest advice, so that’s what I’m giving you.” 

Sana reaches for her manicure kit again, “I can tell that you already like Mina. So it’s better to come clean now than later on. It’s never good to lie to a girl that you really like.”

The pink-haired sophomore pauses on opening her nail polish and looks at her friend sincerely,

“It’s never really good to keep on lying to anyone.”

*****

With the midterms fast approaching, and with both of them eventually getting drowned in a sea of requirements, deadlines and exams, Jeongyeon and Mina find it harder to schedule their next buddy date.

It slightly frustrates Jeongyeon because she wants to use their next date as an opportunity to personally tell Mina the truth. 

The only chance that they have to actually see each other is during their _History classes,_ and even then- they barely have time to talk because Jeongyeon has to hurry and go to her next part-time job after their class.

And despite them texting each other now more frequently than before, it still isn’t enough for Mina, as for each passing day, she’s been missing Jeongyeon more.

Sometimes, instead of the library, Mina studies inside Jeongyeon’s coffee shop during her shift. 

Still, it isn’t enough for the younger girl because most of the time, Jeongyeon is busy attending to customers' orders, and Mina ended up not understanding anything because the scholar has been keeping her distracted.

So when Momo mentioned that Jeongyeon is also attending a house party, Mina decided to go despite her ultimately hating any kinds of college house parties.

*****

The party is already in full swing when Mina and Momo walked across the lawn of the two story house, with streaks of neon lights flashing wildly from the slightly covered glassed windows, and a blast of pop music can be heard clearly even from outside.

As soon as the older Japanese opens the door and drags Mina inside the house, the blonde winces from the smell, with the sudden outpour of the booming bass from the speakers thrumming loudly against her ears. 

The house smells like a good old fashioned college house party - reeking of cheap booze, smoke, and sweat – a perfect mixture for bad decisions and regrettable hangover in the morning. 

It reminds Mina again why she’s not fond of going to college parties.

Ten minutes in and Mina has already made the wrong decision of accepting Momo’s persistent offer of drinking an entire cup of _"juice"_ from the huge punch bowl in the kitchen. 

As soon as she downs her drink, the blonde wishes she should have chosen the cheap beer instead. She wouldn’t even dare find out the contents of that bowl, only hoping that her stomach would forgive her when morning comes. 

“You said Jeongyeon would be here. I still couldn’t see her. Are you sure she’s coming?”

Mina asks her friend again when she wasn’t able to get a glimpse of her buddy after thirty minutes of them stepping inside the house. 

“Yeah she’s coming. Sana promised she’d be here.”

Momo replies in a hurry before one of their orgmates pulls her from their spot- eventually leaving the blonde alone to mingle and socialize with the others.

Feeling a little tipsy now, and with the loud music giving her a bit of a headache, Mina tries to push her way into one corner of the house, earning looks and a do-over from a bunch of college students as she passed.

There seems to be a program happening in the house’s makeshift dance floor and game area but Mina doesn’t care, she just wants to see Jeongyeon already. 

So she continues to quietly scan the first floor of the house from her spot, while occasionally getting a sip from her red plastic cup filled with water.

“Hey babe, you want me to get you a drink?”

A frat guy with a sticky red hair looking like it hasn’t been washed for one whole week is now standing beside Mina.

“No thanks. I’m already drinking.”

Mina says firmly, giving him an uninterested glare despite her heart already feeling anxious with the way this guy is cornering her.

“What I’m offering is better--”

“She already said no.”

A hand taps the guy’s shoulder and firmly pushes her away from the blonde girl.

Mina immediately feels relieved at the sight of the only girl she’s been missing for weeks now.

“Fuck off!” The guy shouts.

“No you back off. Dude, you’re drunk. Go home now and stop pestering girls here.”

Jeongyeon holds the guy’s forceful hand and stands in between him and Mina.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m her girlfriend. And I’m a black belter in jiu jitsu. So if you don’t want to exit this house with a broken skull you better back off and stay away from my girl.”

“The fuck is a jujutsu?” The guy shouts, still persistent with his advances.

“You want me to show you?”

Jeongyeon grabs the guy’s collar with a clenched jaw and widened eyes, taunting him. 

It’s proven to be effective as the guy eventually walks away, albeit after muttering curses under his breath.

“So you’re my girlfriend now, huh?”

Mina teases with a smile, while twirling her plastic cup lazily. 

“Sorry… I knew that was so cliché. I couldn’t think of any excuse to lure him away.”

Jeongyeon shyly rubs the back of her head as she stands alongside Mina and also leans her back against the wall.

“It’s ok, buddy. I like it.”

After hearing it, Jeongyeon throws her a surprised look.

But Mina just grins and takes another sip from her cup,

“I like that you’re here now.”

“Oh-” Jeongyeon chuckles nervously, “right.. I thought-”

“You thought what?”

Mina looks at Jeongyeon intensely. 

She feels even more intoxicated now with the way Jeongyeon is dressed tonight- casually wearing a pair of black shirt and ripped black pants, accompanied by an attractive pair of cross-shaped earrings and silver necklace. 

It’s been a while since they have a moment like this, and the scholar looks four levels more attractive tonight- even more dangerously hot for Mina’s already tipsy state. 

Jeongyeon smirks and teases,

“I thought you like being my girlfriend.”

“Why?” Mina breathes lowly, feeling a little braver with the alcohol still flowing in her bloodstream.

She steps closer towards her buddy, eyes glancing down her lips, wanted nothing then just to kiss that devilish smirk away- 

“Would that be a bad thing?”

The unexpected return of her teasing has taken Jeongyeon aback and she can only manage to gulp and exhale a nervous laugh- 

“I- I- ha hah ..” 

Jeongyeon clears her throat and composes herself-

“I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s just-” 

Mina smiles and leans her back against the wall again.

Her cheeks are now projecting a shade of deep red- both because of the punch, but mainly because of the girl standing beside her.

And for the next minute that passed, they just stand beside each other quietly- with the back of their hands lightly brushing each other’s.

Jeongyeon almost gave in to the temptation and holds Mina’s hand right then - if not only the younger girl lifts her hand just in time to hold her cup again.

“I actually miss you, you know...”

The quiet confession is almost drowned by the loud music playing in the background. 

Jeongyeon almost didn’t hear it. But she did anyway.

And when she looks back at Mina again, the blonde girl is now staring back at her with the same unrelenting stare that she gave Jeongyeon back at the diner - like she’s willing to give Jeongyeon all the stars in the galaxy if she could.

Something swells up within Jeongyeon’s chest again, and she wants nothing then but to reply back how she deeply misses Mina too. 

How she yearns for another moment with her again.

Would even like to confess right then and there that she actually likes the girl now.

But despite all of the unsaid confessions that she would love to say to the beautiful girl staring fondly at her, Jeongyeon opted to say the one that’s been eating her up for weeks - 

“Mina.. we need to talk. There’s something I really need to tell you.”

“There you are two! We’ve been looking for you!!”

Their moment is interrupted by Sana’s loud shout from across the house. 

And before both of them could even react, they are now being dragged by Momo and Sana towards the game area.

_"Hey you there! The game’s about to start now come over here!”_

The host calls out to the four girls a few feet away from the game area.

“Wait, where are we going Sana?” 

Jeongyeon asks confused, noticing that Mina is having the same expression too.

“They’re playing a couple game now and we’re all participating!”

Sana proclaims giddily.

“You and Mina are partners. And I’m partnered with Sana.”

Momo explains with a smug smile.

And before Jeongyeon and Mina could even protest, they are now standing in the middle of the game area, alongside with five other couples, while the host explains the instruction of the game.

_“So this game is just simple- the goal is to have this ball right here in between both of your foreheads by the end of the game. Fairly easy right?”_

The host begins while raising an orange ping pong ball,

_“We only have three rules - don’t let this fall into the ground, no use of hands, and the ball should remain in contact between you and your partner. If you lose contact with the ball for more than two seconds you’re disqualified. If you break any of the rules, you’re disqualified. Simple right?”_

The host then instructs each couple to stand in a starting position and it is only then when Mina notices that the lowest button in her sweater is already opened. 

She must have unconsciously opened it when she was feeling hot earlier because of the effect of the punch.

But Mina doesn’t have time to process that anymore when she realizes how Jeongyeon is standing so close to her now, with the small pingpong ball resting in between of their upper stomachs.

_“Okay, everyone’s in position now? Soooo start!!!”_

As soon as the host signals for the game to officially begin, a new loud music starts blasting from the loud speakers, with the whistle intro of _Moves Like Jagger_ reverberating throughout every corner of the house.

The bass beats of the music in sync with the loud thumping of Mina’s nervous heart.

“Buddy, are you ok?” Jeongyeon asks worriedly.

“Y-yeah, I- I’m fine.” 

Mina’s slight fidgeting has caused the light ball to slide two inches down, and Jeongyeon hugs her close as a reflex to stop the ball from completely rolling.

“Hold onto me so the ball won’t fall.” 

The scholar instructed and Mina awkwardly puts both of her hands on Jeongyeon’s shoulder, trapping the ball securely in between their tummies.

“How are we gonna do this?”

Mina whispers nervously. She’s not sure if it’s the alcohol or her buddy’s hold on her back that’s making her cheeks warm.

“Do you want to win?” 

The question made Mina spies on other couples, and when she sees that some of them are already making progress, it triggered her competitive nature. 

She looks at Jeongyeon straight into the eyes and replies firmly, 

“Yes, buddy. I want to win.”

“I have an idea. Do you trust me?”

When Mina nods, Jeongyeon leans closer and whispers to her ear,

“When I say let go.. let go.”

Mina gulps at the feeling of her buddy’s hot breath on the side of her neck. 

It’s getting a little more heated now for her and Jeongyeon didn’t even dare move away. 

The scholar’s left cheek is now pressed against her right cheek and Mina’s erratic heart beats are being drowned by the loud music playing in the background.

_You wanted control,_

_so we waited_

_I put on a show,_

_now I make it~_

When the song is about to get into the first chorus, she feels Jeongyeon’s hold on her loosens and the scholar finally leans away to look straight into her eyes,

_and it goes like this~_

“Let go.” Jeongyeon breathes and Mina lets go.

Everyone who’s watching them gasps loudly when their ball comes falling way to the floor. But Jeongyeon is quick to go down and catch it with her mouth midway into falling, and puts it back in contact with Mina’s left thigh.

It all happens in a flash that Mina didn’t even have time to register what just occurred.

And the next thing she knew is that Jeongyeon is already holding both side of her denim covered hips, with the pingpong ball in the scholar’s mouth, carefully trailing the ball upwards.

Mina notices in her peripheral vision that other couples tried to mimic what Jeongyeon did but they failed in catching the ball - eventually having two of them being disqualified from the game.

Jeongyeon continues to slide the ball up but she stops when she reaches the waistband of Mina’s jeans, her heart picking up more pace when she notices the blonde’s slightly exposed stomach, internally taking note of the cute little mole peeking from the right side.

The scholar then looks up, keeping the ball still in contact with Mina’s jeans, silently asking for the younger’s permission if she’s still ok with all of this – when the blonde recognizes the silent request, she nods.

So Jeongyeon proceeds in trailing the pingpong ball upwards, finally touching Mina’s exposed skin. The scholar carefully maps the small ball across, but this time she never stray her gaze away from Mina’s eyes.

Mina feels herself getting dizzy when Jeongyeon’s lower lip touches her tummy. There’s just something in the way Jeongyeon is holding her and looking at her from below that makes her body all flared up and she feels multiple degrees notched warmer.

When the ball reaches the area just below her ribcage, Jeongyeon stops again. With her eyes still intensely meeting Mina’s gaze, the scholar slowly slides up her palms and rest them on the side of the blonde’s waist – making Mina shiver with the sudden sensation of Jeongyeon’s warm hands on her skin.

The scholar then changes her direction and trails the ball on the right, eventually encircling Mina’s side, with Jeongyeon’s left palm gently gliding along Mina’s toned abs as she finally reaches the blonde’s mid-back section and proceeds to trail the ball upwards from there.

Mina’s throat is already dry as hell by now, with Jeongyeon’s teasing movements unintentionally torturing her.

The two girls are completely in their own world, that they didn’t even notice they are the only couple left playing the game- all the other couples have been disqualified already.

And Mina can’t help but elicit a restrained moan, when she feels the ball now sliding the side of her neck, feeling internally thankful that the loud music has able to drown the sound completely.

Jeongyeon is now standing close behind her, with both of her arms around Mina- her palms gently resting in each side of Mina’s tummy.

With a skill both of them didn’t even know they had before, Jeongyeon and Mina has managed to turn around and face each other again, with the ball still in contact with Mina’s cheekbone.

When Jeongyeon finally manages to slide the ball on Mina’s forehead, she carefully lets go her bite onto it. She skillfully slides down her face with it, while unintentionally brushing her lips lightly on other parts of Mina’s face too.

And when they finally have the ball rested on both of their foreheads, Jeongyeon and Mina are now meeting each other’s gaze head-on, both of them panting heavily, their heart beats thumping erratically, and Mina’s hand cupping both sides of Jeongyeon’s jaw.

_“And we finally have a winner! Cheers to the most creative couple….”_

The host’s loud comment has broken their moment temporarily, but Mina didn’t wait for the winner announcement to be finished anymore.

She hurriedly walks out from the gaming area and goes straight into the kitchen, feeling herself extremely thirsty. 

She fills up a plastic cup with a dose of the punch she hated earlier since that’s the only remaining drink she can find in there - desperately trying to quench and puts down the fire that has already built up inside her.

“Mina? Buddy, we really need to talk.”

Jeongyeon calls out worriedly.

The blonde feels a gentle hand on her shoulder and when she turns around, she’s come face-to-face with Jeongyeon again.

Mina downs her remaining drink in one go without tearing her gaze away from Jeongyeon. 

She slightly winces from the taste but she braves herself to finish it- as she needed that amount of liquid courage for what she’s about to do.

She pulls the hem of Jeongyeon’s shirt with one hand and tugs her buddy’s shirt collar with the other-

“Buddy…” 

Mina breathes, her cheeks red with want and intoxicated with alcohol, her eyes already glassy and burning deep with yearning for the other girl.

Mina gulps, her gaze already travelling down to Jeongyeon’s inviting lips-

“If I were to kiss you, can I show it now?”

When Jeongyeon didn’t reply, Mina finally leans in.

But just when their lips are about to meet, Jeongyeon whispers nervously,

“Scammer- ”

“What?” Mina asks confused.

“I’m the scammer, miss penguin.”

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: idrk yet. lol.
> 
> What do you guys want? Pain? Sugar? Pain with lots of sugar? Sugar with lots of pain? Pain and sugar with lots of spice? Or just spice spice spice?? lol
> 
> Please let me know what you think of this chapter! Appreciate every comment here, in twitter or in cc. 
> 
>   
> Thanks to anyone who are still reading this crack fic! 
> 
> P.S. Jeongyeon looked so happy during the concert. her vocals omg! And we finally got a new JeongMi selca! It's been 84 yrs. huhu
> 
> hehe JeongMi 💚💚


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